Environmental DNA Marine France LaPerouse 2019
Datasets
Fish environmental DNA data set collected in the shallow seamount of La Pérouse located between Madagascar and Réunion Island In 2019, we sampled the shallow seamount of La Pérouse, located between Madagascar and Réunion Island in the WIO. La Pérouse is an extinct volcano with a summit depth at 60 m below the sea surface. The plateau of the summit has a maximum length of 12 km and a maximum width of 4 km. One side of the seamount might have collapsed in the past, leading to a less common crescent-shaped summit. The abyssal plains that surround this isolated pinnacle are at a depth of 5000 m. Despite its proximity to Réunion Island (160 km northwest), La Pérouse and its surroundings are still poorly studied. To sample eDNA in this location we used a submersible pump (Subspace, Geneva, Switzerland; nominal flow of ~ 1.0 L/min) to collect samples at various depths during close circuit rebreather dives. The pump has an internal battery and can be activated underwater allowing in situ filtration directly at the targeted habitat and depth. The filtration lasted for 30 min to collect a total water volume of ~ 30 L. During close circuit rebreather dives, water samples from various depths,