A DNA methodology based on PCR and sequencing analysis of the mtDNA 16S rRNA gene was developed for the discrimination of picarel Spicara flexuosa and blotched picarel Spicara maena (Pisces: Centracanthidae). The molecular results indicated that there is a clear discrimination between the two species, as all the individuals of S. flexuosa revealed the same 16S rDNA haplotype while the S. maena haplotype differs in 15 distinct nucleotides.
© 2010 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology © 2010 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.