{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:59:10Z","timestamp":1785405550966,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,27]],"date-time":"2026-06-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782518400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Shanghai Leading Talent Program of Eastern Talent Plan","award":["LJ2024051"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LJ2024051"]}]},{"name":"Ministry of Finance","award":["GY2025T-1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GY2025T-1"]}]},{"name":"Ministry of Finance","award":["GY2024G-3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GY2024G-3"]}]},{"award":["GY2025T-1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GY2025T-1"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02jnxpg76","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["GY2024G-3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GY2024G-3"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02jnxpg76","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Illegal wildlife trade and other forms of wildlife crime pose significant threats to global biodiversity. Accurate species identification of wildlife products is crucial for effectively combating illegal wildlife trade. In recent years, forensic species identification using molecular methods has gained increasing attention. Here, we report a case involving 1777 trafficked fish maws and 18,170 trafficked shark fins. We employed DNA barcoding for forensic species identification and a large-sample inference strategy for population estimation. A total of 325 samples (197 fish maws and 128 shark fins) were randomly selected for DNA testing based on their pre-classified morphological categories. Two DNA barcodes (COI and 16S) were used, and sequence alignment was conducted using the NCBI GenBank and BOLD systems. Phylogenetic analyses were performed based on sequences detected from the samples and reference sequences, with results consistent with the sequence alignment. Consequently, seven species were identified, four of which, corresponding to approximately 17,351 to 18,170 specimens, are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27135813","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T00:55:11Z","timestamp":1782780911000},"page":"5813","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Forensic Species Identification: A Case Involving Trafficked Fish Maws and Shark Fins"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7931-9895","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hui","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Key Laboratory of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Academy of Forensic Sciences, Shanghai 200063, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-6710-592X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xufeng","family":"Chu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Key Laboratory of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Academy of Forensic Sciences, Shanghai 200063, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Weiheng","family":"Xiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Key Laboratory of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Academy of Forensic Sciences, Shanghai 200063, China"},{"name":"School of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinxu","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Key Laboratory of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Academy of Forensic Sciences, Shanghai 200063, China"},{"name":"School of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ruocheng","family":"Xia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Key Laboratory of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Academy of Forensic Sciences, Shanghai 200063, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Man","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Key Laboratory of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Academy of Forensic Sciences, Shanghai 200063, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ya","family":"Di","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Key Laboratory of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Academy of Forensic Sciences, Shanghai 200063, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yukun","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"KLATASDS\u2014MOE, School of Statistics, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1318-6150","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiling","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Key Laboratory of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Academy of Forensic Sciences, Shanghai 200063, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1111\/cobi.13245","article-title":"Bolder steps to fight global wildlife illegal trade","volume":"33","author":"Lopes","year":"2019","journal-title":"Conserv. 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