Groundfish Biology Section, Subarctic Fisheries Resources Division, Hokkaido National Fisheries Research Institute, Kushiro, Hokkaido 085-0802, Japan
A method of identifying seven greenling species of the Hexagrammidae distributed around Japan has been developed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. Nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial 12S rRNA-16S rRNA gene from seven greenling species were determined using PCR amplicons from genomic DNA extracted. Species-specific sites for three restriction enzymes (DdeI, DpnII, and MspI) were found, allowing development of a diagnostic PCR-RFLP protocol for identification of the seven greenling species.