Abstract
A recent eDNA-metabarcoding study assessing fish diversity in the Upper Volga catchment did not detect sterlet at any of the sampled stretches, despite recent sightings that suggest its presence. We designed a TaqMan qPCR protocol to test for sterlet in selected eDNA samples from that study. In-silico and in-vitro tests confirm the protocol’s high sensitivity and specificity to sturgeon taxa and potentially paddlefishes. Using this assay, sterlet were not detected in 26 eDNA samples from the Volga headwaters, agreeing with the metabarcoding results.
Highlights
Keywords Sterlet · Environmental DNA · Sturgeon · Freshwater monitoring · Real-time PCR · Endangered species
Assessing presence and distribution of freshwater species using environmental DNA is developing into a powerful conservation management tool (Deiner et al 2017; Ruppert et al 2019)
Sterlet is the only Acipenser species currently occurring in the Upper Volga (Schletterer et al 2018), a positive signal would indicate this species’ presence
Summary
Keywords Sterlet · Environmental DNA · Sturgeon · Freshwater monitoring · Real-time PCR · Endangered species Assessing presence and distribution of freshwater species using environmental DNA (eDNA) is developing into a powerful conservation management tool (Deiner et al 2017; Ruppert et al 2019). Using an eDNA-metabarcoding approach, Lecaudey et al (2019) identified 23 fish species in the Upper Volga catchment.
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