Laboratory analyses for the Chilean skate project are underway at MFL at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.
This follows extensive field work and specimen collection at the end of 2014, led by Carolina Vargas-Caro and in collaboration with Chilean fisheries biologists.
Carolina is testing a range of new microsatellite loci on the yellow-nosed skate (Zearaja chilensis). When the testing is finalised, these loci will be used to examine the fisheries stock structure of the species in Chilean waters.
Nucleotide sequencing of regions of the mitochondrial genome is also underway. This data will be used to corroborate population structure as well as confirm species identity.
