Cytochrome oxidase I DNA barcode database of crocodilians meat selling in Hong Kong

The crocodilians include true crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and gharial, and the trade of crocodilian products is regulated in accordance with the Convention of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Hong Kong does not have her own wild crocodilians; thus, all crocodilians meat available is presumably imported with proper license. However, our knowledge about the species commercially available locally is limited. Here, we generated a database of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene markers of 114 crocodilian meat samples (including frozen and dried crocodilian meat products). available in the contemporary market and validated in a phylogenetic approach. The generated barcodes resulted in a high success rate of species identification: four crocodile species including Crocodylus siamensis, C. porosus, C. niloticus and Alligator mississippiensis, and two samples belonging to snake Malayopython reticulatus, were detected. The comprehensive dataset was deposited at Genbank, which can be utilized for various analyses in different aspects, including meat inspection, illegal trading and tracing of crocodilian goods.