2026/03/29 by Patrizia Bade, Christine Ewers, Ben Krause-Kyora +3 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Identification and Quantification in Food #Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies #Isotope Analysis in Ecology
paper · doi:10.1016/j.foohum.2026.101142
openalex publication_date 2026/03/29 · openalex created_date 2026/03/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Fish and fishery products rank among the top ten most frequently counterfeit food categories, with snappers (family Lutjanidae) being of particular concern with regard to food authenticity. Many species, especially of the genus Lutjanus, exhibit a high level of morphological and genetic similarity, which complicates species-level identification. As certain snapper species are known to be contaminated with ciguatoxins, reliable authentication of snapper products is essential to ensure consumer safety in the marketplace. However, ambiguous and contradictory nucleotide sequences in international nucleotide databases impede the DNA barcoding-based identification of snapper species, especially of the Malabar blood snapper ( Lutjanus malabaricus , traded as “Red Snapper” in Germany) and the crimson snapper ( L. erythropterus ). To reveal the authentic mitochondrial DNA sequences of both species, the holotype of L. malabaricus (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) and the lectotype of L. erythropterus (Bloch, 1790) were analysed by next-generation sequencing (NGS). The application of NGS to museum type specimens for taxonomic clarification represents a novel methodological approach. In the present study, 59.68% of the mitochondrial genome was successfully recovered from both museum type specimens. The results strongly indicate that the museum specimens of both L. malabaricus and L. erythropterus belong to the same species, suggesting that the two taxonomic names may be considered synonymous. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of DNA sequences annotated as L. malabaricus or L. erythropterus in public nucleotide databases fall outside the monophyletic clade defined by the type specimens under study. Additionally, this clade includes many sequences of unidentified specimens found on markets in the USA and Australia. These findings highlight the need for further taxonomic studies within the snapper family to improve the accuracy of molecular species identification, thereby enhancing food authentication and consumer protection.