Abstract:  Species identification for scallop is mostly based on morphological characters. However, when morphological characters are being removed, species identification is difficult to carry out. In this study, with PCR-RFLP analysis of ITS region, four scallop species (C. farreri, C. nobilis, P. yessoensis, A. irradians) mainly culturing in China at the molecular level were first identified based on the sequencing result, three restriction enzymes were selected for PCR-RFLP analysis. Four scallop species can be well distinguished based on the three restriction maps assayed. The stability of PCR-RFLP in this study suggested that this technique is feasible for identification of four scallop species. As an applied example, dried scallop are successfully identified, which suggests that this technique is highly applicable in practice.

Key words: scallop, species identification, dried scallop, PCR-RFLP, ITS