Rapid and Cost-Effective Differentiation of the Lobsters Homarus americanus, H. gammarus and Their F1 Hybrids Using DNA-Based Methods

The American lobster (Homarus americanus) is a non-native species to Europe, but is imported as live seafood and has been identified in European waters. These introductions threaten native populations of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) via disease introduction, competition, direct predation, and genetic introgression. Differentiating the two species and their hybrids based solely on morphological criteria can be difficult and unreliable. This study presents a real-time PCR assay targeting the cytochrome c oxidase gene 1 (cox1) for rapid detection and identification of H. americanus and H. gammarus. We have also designed a conventional duplex PCR from a previously described nuclear marker (Hgam98), which was sequenced and revealed the presence of a specific H. americanus insert downstream from a variable number tandem repeat region. The combination of these assays resulted in the accurate identification of the two lobster species and F1 hybrid specimens.