The Sparidae family is composed of more than one hundred species that are very resembling from the morphological point of view and the more accreditated method for their identification is based on the dental board. Nowadays more than 50 species are commercially exploited at the international level but the processing, such as beheading and filleting, removes the most part of morphological characteristics needed to the identification. Considering that the different species such as Pagrus, Pagellus and Dentex have different market prices, the fraudolent substitutions of similar species can represent a serious problem not only for the fairness of the exchanges but also for the stocks assessment. The molecular methods based on DNA are the most promising tools to correctly identify the fishery products. The aim of this project is to develop a DNA barcoding, using the mitochondrial COI gene, for the identification of all the species of Porgies marketed internationally. For this reason the availability of identified specimens or tissues is fundamental.
