PCR-BASED GENETIC IDENTIFICATION OF MARLIN AND OTHER BILLFISH

A genetic test was developed for the identification of the six species of billfish found in Australian waters (black martin, Indo-Pacific bl ue martin, striped marlin, Indo-Pacific sailfish, shortbill spearfish and broadbill swordfish). The test was based on the PCR-RFLP analysis of a 1400 bp region of the mitochondrial DNA molecule, the d-loop, usi ng four restriction enzymes (HinfI, Rsa I and Sau3A I and Taq I). A to tal of 33 composite haplotypes were observed among 160 fish; all were species-specific. Three of the species-black marlin, striped martin an d broadbill swordfish-showed sufficient intraspecific variation to be useful in population structure analyses.