Detection of a new non-native freshwater species by DNA metabarcoding of environmental samples — first record of Gammarus fossarum in the UK

Blackman, Rosetta C.; Constable, Drew; Hahn, Christoph; Sheard, Andrew M.; Durkota, Jessica; Hänfling, Bernd; Handley, Lori Lawson

doi:10.3391/ai.2017.12.2.06

Detection of a new non-native freshwater species by DNA metabarcoding of environmental samples — first record of Gammarus fossarum in the UK

Blackman, Rosetta C.; Constable, Drew; Hahn, Christoph; Sheard, Andrew M.; Durkota, Jessica; Hänfling, Bernd; Handley, Lori Lawson

Authors

Rosetta C. Blackman

Drew Constable

Christoph Hahn

Andrew M. Sheard

Jessica Durkota

Bernd Hänfling

Lori Lawson Handley

Abstract

© 2017 The Author(s). and 2017 REABIC. We report the discovery of a non-native gammarid, Gammarus fossarum (Koch, 1836) (Crustacea, Amphipoda), in UK rivers. Gammarus fossarum is a common freshwater gammarid in many parts of mainland Europe, but was previously considered absent from the UK. Gammarus fossarum was detected in a number of UK rivers following DNA metabarcoding of a mini-barcode region of the COI gene in macroinvertebrate kick samples, and environmental DNA (eDNA) from water and sediment samples. Subsequent morphological analysis and standard DNA barcoding showed that the species could be reliably identified and separated from Gammarus pulex (Linnaeus, 1758), the most dominant and widespread native freshwater gammarid in the UK. Our data demonstrate extensive geographical coverage of G. fossarum in the UK, spanning distant river catchments. At present there is no data to confirm the likely origin of G. fossarum’s introduction. Subsequent re-examination of historic archive material shows the species to have been present in the UK since at least 1964. This study is among the first to demonstrate the potential of eDNA metabarcoding for detection of new non-native species.

Citation

Blackman, R. C., Constable, D., Hahn, C., Sheard, A. M., Durkota, J., Hänfling, B., & Handley, L. L. (2017). Detection of a new non-native freshwater species by DNA metabarcoding of environmental samples — first record of Gammarus fossarum in the UK. Aquatic Invasions, 12(2), 177-189. https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2017.12.2.06

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Mar 20, 2017
Online Publication Date	Apr 24, 2017
Publication Date	Jun 1, 2017
Deposit Date	Jul 5, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Jul 10, 2018
Journal	Aquatic Invasions
Print ISSN	1798-6540
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	12
Issue	2
Pages	177-189
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2017.12.2.06
Keywords	Environmental DNA; Metabarcoding; Passive detection; Early warning; Cryptic species; Gammaridae; Non-native
Public URL	https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/912837
Publisher URL	http://www.aquaticinvasions.net/2017/issue2.html
Contract Date	Jul 10, 2018