Discrimination of Catadromous Eels of GenusAnguillaUsing Polymerase Chain Reaction–Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis of the Mitochondrial 16S Ribosomal RNA Domain

Abstract
To develop a species identification method for catadromous eels of the genus Anguilla, polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP) analysis of a portion of the16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) domain (1.3 kilobase pairs) in the mitochondrial genome was carried out for 18 recognized species of the genus. The restriction fragment patterns showed the species‐specific haplotypes by processing with six restriction enzymes. In addition, intraspecific haplotype variation in the mitochondrial 16S rRNA domain among 10 A. marmorata collected from geographically distant populations did not reveal genetic structure within the same species, suggesting that it is a preferable marker for species identification.