Abstract
RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) analysis was utilized to identify six sturgeon species. Amplifications with eight different primers gave reproducible electrophoretic patterns which could be regarded as a data-set consisting of monomorphic and polymorphic characters. Some of these characters were species-specific. Band-sharing analysis and numerical taxonomy methods allowed us to generate a phenetic tree. Our results provided evidence that RAPD markers can be used to discriminate species of sturgeons and indicated new possible systematic considerations within the examined taxa, in agreement with their geographical distribution and their inhabitancy system.
