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Detection of critically endangered marine species with dwindling populations in the wild using eDNA gives hope for sawfishes

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Abstract

The detection of threatened species, specially where they have been depleted, is key to their conservation but poses severe logistical challenges precisely because of their very low abundances. Sawfishes (family Pristidae) are among the most threatened marine taxa with globally-reported severe reductions in population size and disappearance from large parts of their former distribution range. This study presents the first report on the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) to evaluate the presence of Critically Endangered sawfishes in parts of their former range, where no recent information about their presence exists. During 2016 and 2017 gillnet and eDNA surveys were carried out at Tecolutla Estuary, Veracruz, and Laguna de Términos and Los Petenes Biological Reserve, Campeche, in Mexico, where Pristis pectinata and Pristis pristis were abundant 40–50 years ago. Our study aimed at determining: (a) if eDNA was a suitable tool for assessing the presence of sawfishes at suspected very low abundances, and (b) if sawfishes still occur in Mexico. We found evidence of sawfish presence through eDNA samples in all three sites, at very low frequencies, but no evidence through gillnetting. Species resolution was difficulted by DNA degradation, but 2/12 samples were identified as Pristis pectinata. Our findings confirm that eDNA is a suitable tool to rapidly assess the presence of critically endangered sawfishes in the wild, stress the urgent need for eDNA surveys throughout the former range of sawfishes globally and highlight the need for swift measures to protect the remaining individuals still living in Mexico.

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Acknowledgements

Laura Zetina-Delgadillo, Triana Arguedas-Álvarez, and Michelle Carrillo-Castañeda helped during surveys. Violeta Monserrath Andrade-González kindly prepared all maps. Special thanks to Dr. Valeria Souza Saldivar, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, who kindly lent filtering equipment and materials for field expeditions. We acknowledge the dedicated help and support of fishers during survey campaigns, including Baudelio Cruz Coronel, Wilbert Segovia, and others. SEMARNAT and CONAPESCA granted the corresponding working permits (SGPA/DGVS/07618/15; SGPA/DGVS/06740/16; PPF/DGOPA-126/16), and managers of the LPBR and the Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Laguna de Términos facilitated entrance to and work within those natural protected areas. Survey eDNA samples were processed by Alexis Janosik at the University of Western Florida under sub-contract DUNS 053000709. The TE survey was carried out under SEMARNAT’s Programa para la Conservación de Especies en Riesgo grant PROCER/CCER/DEPC/03/2016. Support for the large majority of our study was kindly provided by a Save Our Seas Foundation Keystone Grant to RB, and additional support was received from the Marine Conservation Action Fund of the New England Aquarium. We thank the reviewers who helped improve our manuscript.

Funding

Support for the large majority of our study was kindly provided by a Save Our Seas Foundation Keystone Grant to RB; additional support was received from the Marine Conservation Action Fund of the New England Aquarium and one of the surveys was carried out under SEMARNAT’s Programa para la Conservación de Especies en Riesgo grant PROCER/CCER/DEPC/03/2016.

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  1. Ramón Bonfil

    Present address: Instituto de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE 60165-081, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Océanos Vivientes AC, Mexico, CDMX 04380, México

    Ramón Bonfil, Paola Palacios-Barreto, Oscar Uriel Mendoza Vargas & Melina Ricaño-Soriano

  2. Laboratorio de Genética de Organismos Acuáticos. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico, CDMX 04510, México

    Paola Palacios-Barreto & Píndaro Díaz-Jaimes

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  1. Ramón Bonfil
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Correspondence to Ramón Bonfil.

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Research was carried following all national ethical guidelines for working on National Protected Areas as well as with endangered species, and under the cover of working permits SGPA/DGVS/07618/15 and SGPA/DGVS/06740/16; PPF/DGOPA-126/16) from Secretaría de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNT) and Comisión de Pesca (CONAPESCA), respectively.

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Bonfil, R., Palacios-Barreto, P., Vargas, O.U.M. et al. Detection of critically endangered marine species with dwindling populations in the wild using eDNA gives hope for sawfishes. Mar Biol 168, 60 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-021-03862-7

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