Due to insufficient morphological diagnostic characters in larval fishes, it is easy to misidentify them and difficult to key to the genus or species level. The identification results from different laboratories are often inconsistent. This experiment aims to find out, by applying DNA barcoding, how inconsistent the identifications can be among larval fish taxonomists. One hundred morphotypes of larval fishes were chosen as test specimens. The fishes were collected with either larval fish nets or light traps in the northern, southern and northwestern waters of Taiwan. After their body lengths (SL) were measured and specimen photos were taken, all specimens were delivered, in turn, to five laboratories (A-E) in Taiwan to be identified independently. When all the results were collected, these specimens were then identified using COI barcoding. Out of a total of 100 specimens, 87 were identified to the family level, 79 to the genus level and 69 to the species level, based on the COI database currently available. The average accuracy rates of the five laboratories were quite low: 80.1% for the family level, 41.1% for the genus level, and 13.5% for the species level. If the results marked as "unidentified" were excluded from calculations, the rates went up to 75.4% and 43.7% for the genus and species levels, respectively. Thus, we suggest that larval fish identification should be more conservative; i.e., when in doubt, it is better to key only to the family and not to the genus or species level. As to the most misidentified families in our experiment, they were Sparidae, Scorpaenidae, Scombridae, Serranidae and Malacanthidae. On the other hand, Mene maculata and Microcanthus strigatus were all correctly identified to the species level because their larvae have distinct morphology. Nevertheless, barcoding remains one of the best methods to confirm species identification.
Pubmed ID: 23382845 RIS Download
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DNA barcode data with an online workbench that supports data validation, annotation, and publication for specimen, distributional, and molecular data. The data platform consists of three main modules, a data portal, a database of barcode clusters, and data collection workbench. The Public Data Portal provides access to all public barcode data which consists of data generated using the Workbench module as well as data mined from other sources. The Barcode Index Number (BIN) system assigns a unique identifier to each sequence cluster of COI, providing an interim taxonomic system for species in the animal kingdom. The workbench module integrates secure databases with analytical tools to provide a private collaborative environment for researchers to collect, analyze, and publish barcode data and ancillary DNA sequences. This platform also provides an annotation framework that supports tagging and commenting on records and their components (i.e. taxonomy, images, and sequences), allowing for community-based validation of barcode data. By providing specialized services, it aids in the assembly of records that meet the standards needed to gain BARCODE designation in the global sequence databases. Because of its web-based delivery and flexible data security model, it is also well positioned to support projects that involve broad research alliances. Public data records include record identifiers, taxonomy, specimen details, collection information and sequence data. Data that has been publicly released through BOLD can be retrieved manually through the BOLD public interface or automatically through BOLD web services. BOLD analytical tools are available for any data set that exists in BOLD (including publicly available data). Analytical tools can be accessed through the BOLD Project Console under the headings Sequences Analysis or Specimen Aggregates. Some examples include Taxon ID Tree, Alignment Viewer, Distribution Maps, and Image Library.
View all literature mentionsSoftware tool as biological sequence alignment editor written for Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP/7 and sequence analysis program. Provides sequence manipulation and analysis options and links to external analysis programs to view and manipulate sequences with simple point and click operations.
View all literature mentionsWorkflow software and methods language to improve the reproducibility of research results in the scientific community. The Aquarium Project aims to provide the means to specify, as precisely as possible, how to obtain a result using a combination of formal statements, informal descriptions, and photographs.
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