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Population decline of an endangered unionid, Pronodularia japanensis, in streams is revealed by eDNA and conventional monitoring approaches

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Abstract

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is useful to detect the presence of aquatic organisms from water samples, especially for rare and cryptic species. Two freshwater unionid mussels¸ Pronodularia japanensis and Nodularia douglasiae, have rapidly declined over the last three decades and are now threatened with extinction on the Matsuyama Plain, south-western Japan. We designed a species-specific eDNA marker targeting the COI region of P. japanensis. The distribution of this species in the Kunichi River system on the Matsuyama Plain was investigated using both quantitative PCR with this eDNA marker and conventional surveying. We show that the distribution area of P. japanensis did not change between 2013–2014 and 2020–2021, but its density decreased by 99%. eDNA of P. japanensis was detected, with 100% success, from sites where this species was collected by hand. Furthermore, eDNA was detected at nine sites where P. japanensis was not collected but was expected to occur. This study has established a species-specific eDNA marker targeting the COI region of P. japanensis, and this eDNA marker has been validated as effective for surveying the distribution of this species. Using this eDNA marker, extensive investigation of remaining populations and the monitoring of them should improve conservation practices.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Jun-ichi Kitamura and Rintaro Taniguchi for supplying unionid specimens, Shoichiro Yamamoto and Atsushi Maruyama for eDNA assay instructions, Shin-ichi Kitamura and Kei Nakayama for letting us use StepOnePlus, Mikio Inoue and Yume Imada for their support in field and laboratory work, and Takaki Kondo and Manuel Lopes-Lima for taxonomic information on unionids. This research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (18KK0208, 20K06814).

Funding

This study was funded by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant Nos.: 18KK0208, 20K06814)

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  1. Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University, 2-5 Bunkyo, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan

    Hiroki Hata

  2. Department of Science, Ehime University, 2-5 Bunkyo, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan

    Kota Ogasawara & Naoki Yamashita

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  1. Hiroki Hata
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  2. Kota Ogasawara
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Correspondence to Hiroki Hata.

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Hata, H., Ogasawara, K. & Yamashita, N. Population decline of an endangered unionid, Pronodularia japanensis, in streams is revealed by eDNA and conventional monitoring approaches. Hydrobiologia 849, 2635–2646 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-022-04852-6

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