Diagnostic PCR to identify five rare species of Cypriniformes in China

The major problem that fisheries managers face when trying to enforce the law is identifying fish species. This problem is even worse when it comes to identifying eggs, larvae, bloodstains, scales, mucous stains, and mixtures of these in markets, restaurants and fishing areas. To assist in the acquisition of urgently needed conservation and management data on rare and endangered fish catch and sale, we have developed and tested a highly streamlined molecular genetic approach to identify Cypriniformes fish species. We used species-specific primers and species-specific ladders in a seven-primer multiplex polymerase chain reaction format based on DNA sequence differences among species in the nuclear ribosomal second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) to discriminate simultaneously among five rare and endangered Cypriniformes species in China. This technique distinguished samples with 100% accuracy. This genetic approach will be useful for the assessment, management and conservation of fish.