Dear MARMAM community,
We are pleased to share our new work regarding the marine mammals'
detection via eDNA in Greece and specifically in Pagasitikos Gulf. To
our knowledge this is the first study as such in Greece and the
Eastern Mediterranean.
"Marine Mammals’ Fauna Detection via eDNA Methodology in Pagasitikos
Gulf (Greece)" in Diversity. It is open access and available here:
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17/10/692
The team is happy to respond to any questions
_Abstract_
Marine mammals are important ecological bio-indicators of marine
ecosystems impacted by a plethora of anthropogenic and environmental
threats. Genomics detects genetic variation, adaptation to
environmental shifts, and susceptibility to diseases in marine mammal
species. In this study, eDNA was utilized for the first time in the
Pagasitikos Gulf over three consecutive years (2022–2024) in order to
detect marine mammal species. Additionally, visual monitoring and eDNA
results were compared to reveal the pros and cons of the two
methodologies. The gulf was zoned into five different areas with
respect to oceanographic features for sampling. DNA extraction was
assessed by using a standard protocol of phenol–chloroform followed by
PCR amplification using the 16S rRNA gene. A total of 5,209,613 highly
filtered sequence reads were attributed to 108 species. Among
these, Monachus monachus, Tursiops truncatus, and Ziphius
cavirostris species were detected. This novel detection of Z.
cavirostris in the relatively shallow waters of the Gulf of
Pagasitikos raised the question of whether it was a random event or a
new ecological trend. Z. cavirostris and M. monachus appeared to share
the same marine areas within the gulf. In the era of the climate
crisis, eDNA provides essential information on marine mammals’
ecological status, yields novel detections, and predicts behavioral
changes essential to deep-diving species.
All best,
Elena
--
Elena Akritopoulou
PhD candidate in Marine Mammals' Molecular Ecology,
Marine Mammal Monitoring Unit,
Laboratory of Hydrobiology & Ichthyology,
Dept. of Ichthyology & Aquatic Environment,
School of Agricultural Sciences,
University of Thessaly,
Fytokou str.,
38446,
Volos
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