Vertebrate COI barcoding — fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, mammals.
The VF1/VR1 primer pair is optimised for vertebrate COI amplification, offering better success rates than the universal Folmer primers for fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Applications: identifying roadkill specimens, verifying fish species at markets (seafood fraud is a real problem — studies show 20-30% mislabelling rates), identifying feathers or hair found in the field, confirming captive-bred animal identity.
Note: Please ensure you have appropriate permits for collecting tissue from native vertebrates. In NSW, a Scientific Licence under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 may be required. Samples from deceased animals, shed feathers/skin, or commercially obtained specimens generally don't require permits.
Reference database: BOLD Systems (boldsystems.org) plus NCBI GenBank.