Pt. Reyes National Seashore

• Pt Reyes National Seashore

Pt Reyes National Seashore

The endangered tidewater goby (TWG; Eucyclogobius newberryi) was living in lower Lagunitas Creek and several surrounding areas in Tomales Bay in the early 2000’s. TWG is known to persist in Rodeo Lagoon but has not been detected in other areas in visual and trapping surveys over the last 5 years. To try eDNA surveillance, our team of Pt. Reyes managers and CALeDNA staff collected 42 water samples and 42 sediment samples from different habitats for qPCR and metabarcoding. We also collected a preserved TWG found in Rodeo Lagoon for tissue DNA extraction that would be used as a positive control DNA dilution gradient to optimize qPCR and test the sensitivity of the qPCR assay. 

In summary, we find TWG signals in many locations, and suggest denser sampling of both sediment and water in the future if reserve managers are interested more finely mapping distribution. Visual survey fish counts will be useful to correlate with the eDNA results so we can select one of the multiple assays tried in this study. Metabarcoding, hydrological chemistry and features, and TWG distribution could be integrated in a holistic model to predict habitat suitability.

Project Details

Researchers	6slugs rsmeyer sesjohns Perlodae vanw
Reference barcode database	Crux v 2.0 for 18S, FITS, PITS, CO1, bur MiFish 12SU and 16S were using Crux v 3 made by Lenore Pipes with WGS data
DRYAD link
Decontamination method	Decontam program with prevalence
Primers	18S, 16S, 12S_MiFish_Universal, Fungal_ITS5_5.8S, CO1_Leray, PITS