Abstract

PCR amplification of two nuclear DNA fragments (ITS and GLU-5) and subsequent restriction fragment polymorphism (RFLP) were applied to mantle tissue samples from four species of Chilean mussels, Mytilus edulis chilensis, Choromytilus chorus, Aulacomya ater, and Perumytilus purpuratus, and to individual D-shape larvae of Mytilus edulis and M. trossulus from Newfoundland, in order to look for specific banding patterns for each of the Chilean species. Both nuclear DNA-based markers produced species-specific banding patterns and may therefore be able to differentiate larvae from the four Chilean mussels during studies that rely on plankton surveys.