Paternity testing using the poisonous sting in captive white-spotted eagle raysPublished online on 14. February 2013
Paternity testing using the poisonous sting in captive white-spotted eagle rays Aetobatus narinari: a non-invasive tool for captive sustainability programmes
M. Janse, A. L. Kappe, B. L. M. Van Kuijk
A group of captive white-spotted eagle rays Aetobatus narinari produced 20 offspring, with an unknown father. Part of the poisonous sting was removed from each fish and DNA was extracted from the epidermis for paternity research using eight microsatellite markers of which four were from another species Aetobatus flagellum. This non-invasive sampling technique can be applied on all members of Myliobatiformes.
Journal of Fish Biology. Early View Version, doi: 10.1111/jfb.12038