_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: Email: eekwelem@yahoo.com; Asian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Research 8(2): 9-15, 2020; Article no.AJFAR.59568 ISSN: 2582-3760 Protein-Based Genetic Diversity Assessment of Tilapia guineensis and Sarotherodon melanotheron Populations from South-West Nigerian Coastal Waters E. A. Ukenye 1* , I. Megbowon 1 , M. M. A. Akinwale 1 , M. A. Fowora 2 , I. Chidume 1 , N. C. Eze 1 , R. O. Adeleke 1 and C. C. Omatah 1 1 Department of Biotechnology, Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. 2 Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. Author EAU designed the study, involved in sample collection, performed laboratory analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Authors IM and MMAA carried out field survey and reviewed the first draft of the manuscript. Author MAF wrote the protocol and performed the data analysis. Authors IC and NCE managed the literature searches while authors ROA and CCO participated in laboratory analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/AJFAR/2020/v8i230134 Editor(s): (1) Dr. Pınar Oguzhan Yildiz, Ataturk University, Turkey. Reviewers: (1) Karan Veer Singh, ICAR-NBAGR, India. (2) Mojgan Bandehpour, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sdiarticle4.com/review-history/59568 Received 20 May 2020 Accepted 27 July 2020 Published 06 August 2020 ABSTRACT The present study was carried out to investigate the genetic differences in the Protein banding pattern of Tilapia guineensis and Sarotherodon melanotheron populations in Southwest Nigeria using Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Four populations of Tilapia guineensis and three populations of Sarotherodon melanotheron from Ondo and Lagos states were considered for the study. The sarcoplasmic protein of the studied Cichlid species resolved on 12% SDS-PAGE revealed variations in their genetic diversity indices (number of Original Research Article