U.S. Geological Survey scientists have developed the first laboratory test that can pick up traces of manatees’ genetic material in the waterways where they live. Using a water sample collected in the field, the innovative environmental DNA test can reveal whether one or more of the elusive marine mammals has been in the area within the past month.
U.S. Geological Survey scientists have developed the first laboratory test that can pick up traces of manatees’ genetic material in the waterways where they live. Using a water sample collected in the field, the innovative environmental DNA test can reveal whether one or more of the elusive marine mammals has been in the area within the past month.
The test can detect the presence of manatees where other methods won’t work, help scientists identify the habitats manatees use and the patterns of their seasonal movements, and inform efforts to bring back wild manatee populations that are considered close to extinction, such as in Brazil or West Africa, said USGS research geneticist Margaret Hunter.
“Environmental DNA detection is the wave of the future for monitoring species that are difficult to find,” Hunter said. “Some species, such as marine mammals, live in places where humans can’t easily follow them. Others are few in number and widely dispersed, well camouflaged, or good at avoiding contact with people. By combining new advances in eDNA work with other techniques, we’re getting a more complete picture of these wild populations, without disturbing them.”
Hunter led a research team that isolated a unique DNA segment found in manatees’ body residues, such as saliva, skin cells, excrement and exhaled water vapor. The team developed a genetic marker that signals the presence of those DNA segments in a concentrated water sample from the animals’ environment. Their work is reported in a scientific paper published March 13, 2018 in the journal Endangered Species Research.
Read more at U.S. Geological Survey
Image: A curious manatee calf approaches as the USGS Sirenia Project conducts fieldwork at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, Florida. (Credit: Robert Bonde, USGS. Public domain.)
