Endangered Fish Served in Restaurants, Barcoding Study Finds

DNA barcoding of fish in New York City restaurants has revealed that some endangered species like the Acadian redfish are showing up on plates, even though they are being sold as more common fish varieties. As part of a high school project, two students sent restaurant fish samples to the University of Guelph barcoding facility, where scientists sequenced a specific portion of DNA to determine the fish species. Fourteen of the 56 species tested had been mislabeled by retailers, usually as a more expensive variety. Two filet samples sold as red snapper were actually the endangered Acadian redfish from the North Atlantic. At one sushi restaurant, “white tuna” was in fact Mozambique tilapia, and at another restaurant, “Mediterranean red mullet” turned out to be the Caribbean spotted goatfish. DNA barcoding technology is increasingly being used to distinguish species and identify new species.