Almada, Vítor CarvalhoFrancisco, Sara MartinsRosa, InêsDomingues, Vera dos SantosCabral, HenriqueAlmada, Frederico José Oliveira deHenriques, MiguelRobalo, Joana Isabel2012-10-252012-10-252012Biologia, 67 (5), 988-9910006-3088http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/1791This note describes a rapid and inexpensive Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism technique to discriminate all species of Atherina (Pisces: Atherinidae) of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. This technique is based on digestion of a fragment of the 12S ribosomal RNA (12SrRNA) gene region of mitochondrial DNA with restriction enzymes that recognize species-specific nucleotide sites. The three currently recognized species in the area, as well as two additional forms awaiting formal description, can be discriminated using a set of four endonucleases. We argue that this simple and fast technique may be of great help in the identification of young stages and in ecological surveys.engAtherinaRFLPmtDNAjournal article