Review Reports

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript contains important information on the species identification and genetic variation of pangasiid catfish species in Peninsular Malaysia. The research design and methodology of the manuscript are adequate and the topic of the manuscript is of interest to a wide readership of Hydrobiology. However, I felt that the manuscript can be improved by a more detailed discussion. The specific comments about my concerns regarding originality and the importance of this study are as:

Specific comments:

1. Line 34: “Indochina”? This name is not common when referring to these countries. Please revise it.

2.  Line 69: Please include this statement in Line 69. “Besides, environmental disturbances and overfishing can lead to bottlenecks that promote genetic variability loss and inbreeding in natural fish populations. This may ultimately reduce the ability of species to adapt to their environments (Nazir and Khan, 2017). Nazir, A., & Khan, M. A. (2017). Stock discrimination of Sperata aor from river Ganga using microsatellite markers: implications for conservation and management. Aquatic Living Resources, 30, 33. https://doi.org/10.1051/alr/2017033.

3. Line 175: “Sequence analysis and variation”. Please use a better heading like Genetic variation.

4. Please give an overall statement on how aquaculture practices have influenced the pangasiid catfish genetic diversity in Malaysia.

5. Table 2 font size needs to be adjusted.

 

6. Overall, the manuscript is well-written and informative.

Slight English editing is required.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

1. The quality of the figures should be improved.

2. The number of samples is small.

3. The phylogenetic tree is confusing. For example, the evolutionary branches are not continuous.

4. The phylogenetic tree implied that the genetic distance value between Pangasius nasutus and P. conchophilus should be less than 3%.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx