Assessing the conservation potential of fish and corals in aquariums globally

Silva, Rita da; Pearce-Kelly, Paul; Zimmerman, Brian; Knott, Meredith; Foden, Wendy; Conde, Dalia Amor

doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2018.12.001

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…: the above mentioned barcoding gap analysis and, the potentially more direct Automatic Barcoding Gap Discovery (ABGD) (Puillandre et al 2012 )]. The argument we make is that given the shared limitation and the common need for additional data in an integrated approach, a faster and simpler blast match provides a relatively similar additional amount of information for the species identification while being more easily repeatable, especially considering the value of standardized data among aquariums (da Silva et al 2019 ) and in light of the ever increasing quantity of reference materials being added to GenBank and BOLD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s left in the tank? Identification of non-ascribed aquarium’s coral collections with DNA barcodes as part of an integrated diagnostic approach

Colin

Abed-Navandi²,

Conde

et al. 2022

Conservation Genet Resour

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The unprecedented threats to coral reef ecosystems from global climate change require an urgent response from the aquarium community, which is becoming an increasingly vital coral conservation resource. Unfortunately, many hermatypic corals in aquaria are not identified to species level, which hinders assessment of their conservation significance. Traditional methods of species identification using morphology can be challenging, especially to non-taxonomists. DNA barcoding is an option for species identification of Scleractinian corals, especially when used in concert with morphology-based assessment. This study uses DNA barcodes to try to identify aquarium specimens of the diverse reef-forming genus Acropora from 127 samples. We identified to our best current knowledge, to species name 44% of the analysed samples and provided provisional identification for 80% of them (101/127, in the form of a list of species names with associate confidence values). We highlighted a sampling bias in public nucleotide sequences repertories (e.g. GenBank) towards more charismatic and more studied species, even inside a well-studied genus like Acropora . In addition, we showed a potential “single observer” effect with over a quarter of the reference sequences used for these identifications coming from the same study. We propose the use of barcoding and query matching as an additional tool for taxonomic experts and general aquarists, as an additional tool to increase their chances of making high confidence species-level identifications. We produce a standardised and easily repeatable methodology to increase the capacity of aquariums and other facilities to assess non-ascribed species, emphasising the value of integrating this approach with morphological identification optimising usage of authoritative identification guides and expert opinion. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12686-021-01250-3.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s left in the tank? Identification of non-ascribed aquarium’s coral collections with DNA barcodes as part of an integrated diagnostic approach

Colin

Abed-Navandi²,

Conde

et al. 2022

Conservation Genet Resour

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“…For other species, we do not yet fully understand how to tackle the threats they face, such as 232 threatened coral species impacted by bleaching, 571 threatened amphibian species impacted by chytridimycosis, or those species whose mutualists (seed dispersers, pollinators, symbionts) have disappeared locally or globally. For such species, ex situ conservation may ‘buy time’ while feasible interventions are devised, tested, and applied (da Silva et al, 2019). This would ensure that species can be re-introduced, or populations supplemented.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preventing extinctions post-2020 requires recovery actions and transformative change

Bolam

Ahumada

Akçakaya

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Stopping human-induced extinctions will require strong policy commitments that comprehensively address threats to species. In 2021, a new Global Biodiversity Framework will be agreed by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Here we investigate how the suggested targets could contribute to reducing threats to threatened vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants, and assess the importance of a proposed target to implement recovery actions for threatened species. We find that whilst many of the targets benefit species, extinction risk for over one third of threatened species would not be reduced sufficiently without a target on recovery actions, including ex situ conservation, reintroductions and other species-specific interventions. A median of 41 threatened species per country require such actions, and they are found in most countries of the world. To prevent future extinctions, policy commitments must include recovery actions for the most threatened species in addition to broader transformative change.

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“…: the above mentioned barcoding gap analysis and, the potentially more direct Automatic Barcoding Gap Discovery (ABGD) (Puillandre et al 2012)). The argument we make is that given the shared limitation and the common need for additional data in an integrated approach, a faster and simpler blast match provides a relatively similar additional amount of information for the species identification while being more easily repeatable, especially considering the value of standardized data among aquariums (da Silva et al 2019) and in light of the ever increasing quantity of reference materials being added to GenBank and BOLD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Producing this way reliably identified sequences that can potentially become new reference, adding to the repertories already freely available. Considering the specific needs of the aquarium community and their critical role to support corals conservation (i.e., by hosting at least 24% of the corals assessed as highly vulnerable to climate change (da Silva et al 2019)), we emphasise the value of integrating standardised barcoding analysis, and specimen morphology photographs to optimise usage of authoritative identification guides and expert opinion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s left in the tank? Identification of non-ascribed aquarium’s coral collections with DNA barcodes as part of an integrated diagnostic approach

Colin

Abed-Navandi²,

Conde

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The unprecedented threats to coral reef ecosystems from global climate change (GCC) require an urgent response from the aquarium community, which is becoming an increasingly vital coral conservation resource. Unfortunately, many hermatypic corals in aquaria are not identified to species level, which hinders assessment of their conservation significance. Traditional methods of species identification using morphology can be challenging, especially to non-taxonomists. DNA barcoding is an option for species identification of Scleractinian corals, especially when used in concert with morphology based assessment. This study uses DNA barcodes to try to identify aquarium specimens of the diverse reef-forming family Acroporidae from 127 samples. We identified to species name 44% of the analysed samples and provided provisional identification for 80% of them (101/127, in the form of a list of species names with associate confidence values). We highlighted a sampling bias in public nucleotide sequences repertories (e.g.: GenBank) towards more charismatic and more studied species, even inside a well-studied genus like Acropora. In addition, we showed a potential “single observer” effect with over a quarter of the reference sequences used for these identifications coming from the same study. We propose the use of barcoding and query matching as an additional tool for taxonomic experts and general aquarists to increase their chances of making high confidence species-level identifications. We produce a standardised and repeatable methodology to increase the capacity of aquariums and other facilities to assess non-ascribed species.

show abstract

Assessing the conservation potential of fish and corals in aquariums globally

Cited by 23 publications

References 41 publications

What’s left in the tank? Identification of non-ascribed aquarium’s coral collections with DNA barcodes as part of an integrated diagnostic approach

What’s left in the tank? Identification of non-ascribed aquarium’s coral collections with DNA barcodes as part of an integrated diagnostic approach

Preventing extinctions post-2020 requires recovery actions and transformative change

What’s left in the tank? Identification of non-ascribed aquarium’s coral collections with DNA barcodes as part of an integrated diagnostic approach

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