Mitochondrial DNA Profiling to Combat the Illegal Trade in Tortoiseshell Products

Hawksbill turtles ( Eretmochelys imbricata ) are exploited for their beautiful shell known as tortoiseshell or bekko, making them extremely vulnerable in the illegal global trade of products. In this study, we developed an effective, standardized method using a commercially available kit to extract DNA and obtain informative mitochondrial (mtDNA) control region sequences (~800 bp) from hawksbill turtle products order trace sample back likely stock origin. We also sequenced additional skin samples nesting beaches Milman Island, Australia Arnavon Solomon Islands add baseline data Indo-Pacific. Our results indicate that nine 13 obtained Papua New Guinea were with haplotypes found primarily at rookery did not match those populations SE Asia, exception one haplotype 3% Island. 23% market have only documented foraging populations, which illustrates urgent need more extensive sampling rookeries fill gaps reference database. Nevertheless, our study demonstrate effective methodology obtaining sufficient quantity quality