Abstract
In Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Southwestern Japan, the oval squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana Lesson, 1830 is classified into three different groups by fishermen based on body color, appearance and quality, in spite of the fact that they have been taxonomically considered to belong to a single species. In the present study, 84 adult specimens of these three groups of this squid were analyzed for genetic variation of enzymes in use of buccal mass muscle and ceacum by horizontal starch-gel electrophoresis at 11 genetic loci coding for 9 enzymes. The electrophoretic patterns of asparate aminotransferase (AAT) revealed that these three groups are clearly separated on the locus encoding to this enzyme, and indicated that all the groups exist without reproductive mixing along the coast of Ishigaki Island. The results indicate a need of systematic revision of Sepioteuthis lessoniana complex.
