Paternity testing using the poisonous sting in captive white-spotted eagle rays Aetobatus narinari: a non-invasive tool for captive sustainability programmes

J Fish Biol. 2013 Mar;82(3):1082-5. doi: 10.1111/jfb.12038. Epub 2013 Feb 14.

Abstract

A group of captive white-spotted eagle rays Aetobatus narinari produced 20 offspring, with an unknown father. Part of the poisonous sting was removed from each fish and DNA was extracted from the epidermis for paternity research using eight microsatellite markers of which four were from another species Aetobatus flagellum. This non-invasive sampling technique can be applied on all members of Myliobatiformes.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Zoo
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Female
  • Male
  • Microsatellite Repeats*
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Skates, Fish / genetics*