Identifying Canadian Freshwater Fishes through DNA Barcodes

BACKGROUND: DNA barcoding aims to provide an efficient method for species-level identifications using an array of species specific molecular tags derived from the 5' region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene. The efficiency of the method hinges on the degree of sequence divergence among species and species-level identifications are relatively straightforward when the average genetic distance among individuals within a species does not exceed the average genetic distance between sister species. Fishes constitute a highly diverse group of vertebrates that exhibit deep phenotypic changes during development. In this context, the identification of fish species is challenging and DNA barcoding…

• MD
  Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game
• UL
  Université Laval
• GC
  Genome Canada
• UO
  University of Windsor
• UO
  University of Manitoba
• ID
  Idaho Department of Fish and Game
• OG
  Ontario Genomics
• OG
  Ontario Genomics Institute
• TU
  Trent University
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada