Environmental DNA Detection of American Eels in a Controlled Setting
Josh Grassi
Faculty mentor: Greg Moyer
Mansfield University
Environmental DNA (eDNA) is an emerging technique for detecting aquatic organisms. Basically a species’ DNA can be detected from a water sample; therefore, it offers increased sensitivity over traditional detection methods, especially for nocturnal, bottom-dwelling organisms. One such organism is the American eel. In order for this method to be applicable in the field, often controlled experiments are performed first. We tested the hypothesis that detection of American eel eDNA increases with eel density. Density was allowed to vary from 0, 1, 5, or 10 eels held in tanks and our experimental design was run in triplicate. From each tank, a 2-L water sample was collected, filtered, and DNA extracted. DNA was amplified to determine presence/absence of eel DNA. From these data we estimated the probability of detection for each density trial. We expect that there should be a significant positive correlation between detection probability and density.
Josh Grassi is a senior fisheries biology major from Butler, Pennsylvania. He plans on furthering his education at the graduate level following graduation in May 2018.
