First DNA evidence on the occurrence of Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis in northern Philippine waters.

Background: Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) spawning adults, juveniles and larvae are all reported to occur in areas between Philippine Sea and Japan Sea. However, no DNA evidence has been generated to support this. Context and purpose of the study: In this study, Pacific bluefin tuna caught North of Polilio Island in the Philippine Pacific Seaboard, was identified through DNA barcoding using mitochondrial DNA D-loop region and cytochrome oxidase 1 gene. Findings: The results show clustering of Philippine-caught bluefin tuna D-loop and CO1 sequences with published reference sequences for T. orientalis and supported by pairwise distances <0.034. Conclusion: This study provides the first DNA evidence on the occurrence of T. orientalis in Philippine waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]