Our environmental DNA discovery of unusual fish is featured in the American Fisheries Society blog. The post highlights the growing complement of East Coast eDNA researchers, including our NOAA colleague Yuan Liu.
Area of Research: Aquatic environmental DNA (eDNA)
Improved Environmental DNA Reference Library Detects Overlooked Marine Fishes in New Jersey, United State
News coverage about surprising Jersey Shore fish spotted w eDNA
National Fisherman May 14, 2020 Genetic markers reveal Brazilian cownose rays, Gulf kingfish in New Jersey waters Kirk Moore
Agencia EFE (via El Diario, Spain) El analísis de ADN medioambiental detecta migraciones de especies marinas https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/analisis-ADN-medioambiental-migraciones-especies_0_1026448521.html
Prensa Latina, Cuba Descubren nuevos patrones de migración de especies marinas tropicales https://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?o=rn&id=365583&SEO=descubren-nuevos-patrones-de-migracion-de-especies-marinas-tropicales
Globedia, Spain Detectan migraciones de especies marinas gracias al ADN medioambiental https://globedia.com/detectan-migraciones-especies-marinas-gracias-adn-medioambiental
Revista Planeta, Brazil Arraia típica do Brasil está chegando perto da costa de Nova York https://www.revistaplaneta.com.br/arraia-tipica-do-brasil-esta-chegando-perto-da-costa-de-nova-york/
DIVE Magazine, UK DNA Traces Prove To Be Useful Tool in Understanding Fish Populations https://divemagazine.co.uk/eco/8973-tracking-and-tracing-in-the-ocean-using-dna-residue
New PHE paper about surprising species found off New Jersey
Front. Mar. Sci., 05 May 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00226
Improved Environmental DNA Reference Library Detects Overlooked Marine Fishes in New Jersey, United States
Mark Y. Stoeckle*, Mithun Das Mishu and Zachary Charlop-Powers
- Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, United States
An accurate, comprehensive reference sequence library maximizes information gained from environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of marine fishes. Here, we used a regional checklist and early results from an ongoing eDNA time series to target mid-Atlantic U.S. coastal fishes lacking reference sequences. We obtained 60 specimens representing 31 species from NOAA trawl surveys and institutional collections, and analyzed 12S and COI barcode regions, the latter to confirm specimen identification. Combined with existing GenBank accessions, the enhanced 12S dataset covered most (74%) of 341 fishes on New Jersey State checklist including 95% of those categorized abundant or common. For eDNA time series, we collected water samples approximately twice monthly for 24 months at an ocean and a bay site in New Jersey. Metabarcoding was performed using separate 12S primer sets targeting bony and cartilaginous fishes. Bioinformatic analysis of Illumina MiSeq fastq files with the augmented library yielded exact matches for 90% of the 104 fish amplicon sequence variants generated from field samples. Newly obtained reference sequences revealed two southern U.S. species as relatively common warm season migrants: Gulf kingfish (Menticirrhus littoralis) and Brazilian cownose ray (Rhinoptera brasiliensis). A beach wrack specimen corroborated the local presence of Brazilian cownose ray. Our results highlight the value of strengthening reference libraries and demonstrate that eDNA can help detect range shifts including those of species overlooked by traditional surveys.
eDNA in Wired magazine
Journalist Eric Niler publishes a good feature in Wired magazine on eDNA that includes coverage of the work of PHE’s Mark Stoeckle:
‘Environmental DNA’ Lets Scientists Probe Underwater Life
With the help of a new kind of drone, marine biologists can sequence DNA found in the ocean to reveal what’s living in an ecosystem—and what’s missing.
Monitoring fish habitat restoration with eDNA on Twitter
Mark Stoeckle’s eDNA survey caught the Twitter eye of Mystic Lakes Watershed Association https://mobile.twitter.com/AndyMysticRive1/status/1187805832555257857
eDNA talk at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Sciences Center
Jesse Ausubel gave a talk on “eDNA: Prospects and Challenges” at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Sciences Center on 18 October 2019. To view the talk visit here for a webinar link. Please skip the first 15 minutes, which are just chatter waiting for the seminar to begin
Whales and eDNA in NY waters Podcast
NYU science journalism grad student Kaitlyn Jeanne Nichols’s podcast follows the return of whales to NY and interviews Mark on how eDNA is helping reveal animal life in NYC waters. https://soundcloud.com/user-833449477/chasing-whales-in-new-york-city (segment starts at 7:30).