Is the subspecies classification of the freshwater eels Anguilla australis australis Richardson and A. a. schmidtii Phillipps still valid?

Abstract

The validity of the subspecies classification of Anguilla australis was reviewed by sequencing the control region of mitochondrial DNA. Samples of A. a. australis (Australia) and A. a. schmidtii (New Zealand), collected from two sites within each country were compared by analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and neighbour joining. There was no molecular evidence to support the present subspecies designation and they would be more appropriately merged into the single classification of A. australis, the Australasian shortfinned eel. As Australian and New Zealand populations of this species share a common gene pool, fisheries management needs to be carried out cooperatively between the two countries.