Discrimination of juvenile yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) and bigeye (T. obesus) Tunas using mitochondrial DNA control region and liver morphology.

ABSTRACT: Yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre, 1788) and bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus (Lowe, 1839) are two of the most economically important tuna species in the world. However, identification of their juveniles, especially at sizes less than 40 cm, is very difficult, often leading to misidentification and miscalculation of their catch estimates. Here, we applied the mitochondrial DNA control region D-loop, a recently validated genetic marker used for identifying tuna species (Genus Thunnus), to discriminate juvenile tunas caught by purse seine and ringnet sets around fish aggregating devices (FADs) off the Southern Iloilo Peninsula in Central Philippines. We checked individual identifications using the Neighbor-Joining Method and compared results with morphometric analyses and the liver ph

SUBMITTER: Pedrosa-Gerasmio IR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3334917 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature