there is currently less information on COI than on the molecular marker mt cyt b, which is supported by more sequence data from a greater number of species . Moreover, a literature search for species identification studies using the combined databases Academic Search Premier and Agricola resulted in 288 hits with the search terms “species identification and cytochrome b or cyt b gene” and only 142 hits using the search terms “species identification and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I or COI gene.” Standardizing the identification approach to be limited to COI could potentially be a major source of controversy, as it has become in the field of taxonomy . On the other hand, the compilation of sequence information for a specific gene in all species could greatly improve genetic identification techniques and provide a focused effort for fraud prevention. To this effect, USFDA researchers have recently been investigating the possibility of incorporating DNA COI barcodes in the Regulatory Fish Encyclopedia