Genetics As A Tool To Find Fish in North QLD
OzFish North QLD Chapter have recently completed their first round of sample collection to assess fish diversity in waterways of Townsville, the Herbert and lower Burdekin.
The team is working with our project partners at Townsville City Council and James Cook University (TropWATER) to collect and analyse water samples for environmental DNA (eDNA) — genetic material from fish that has become suspended in the water column.
Sampling is occurring in the tropical wet season, and again at the same sites in the dry season to assess variability in fish species across different times of the year.
The primary aim of the project is to develop a meta-barcoding technique for eDNA that is specific to fish species in waterways of the wet and dry tropics, and to enable a more comprehensive assessment of fish assemblages in tropical waterways than is possible using conventional sampling methods (e.g. netting, trapping, electrofishing).
We are assessing a diversity of waterways across the wet and dry tropics, including fast-flowing rainforest streams, wetlands, and highly modified urban and agricultural waterways.
Volunteers have provided valuable assistance with sample collection across all of our locations. Sample collection is non-technical — making this work an ideal application for citizen science — and training on sampling techniques is being provided by the project team. Participants are contributing to an improved understanding of fish fauna in their local waterways and are assisting with improving monitoring techniques for fish sampling.
Head to the OzFish events section to register for the Post Wet Season eDNA collection.
The eDNA sampling program is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and is being delivered in partnership with OzFish Unlimited, James Cook University (TropWATER), Townsville City Council and BCF – Boating, Fishing and Camping.
