Comparison of metabarcoding and morphological identification of neritic and oceanic fish larvae from the Gulf of Mexico

MARTÍNEZ MERCADO, M.A.; HERNÁNDEZ, F.J.; HERZKA, SHARON Z.; ZAPFE, G.; GALINDO-SÁNCHEZ, CLARA E.; COMPAIRE, JESUS C.; JIMÉNEZ-ROSENBERG, SYLVIA P. A.; BARBERO, LETICIA

Groton, Connecticut

Congreso; 44th Larval Fish Conference; 2021

The identification of fish larvae based on morphological and meristic characteristics requires extensive training, is challenging due to the lack of stage-specific descriptions for most species, and it can be difficult to differentiate between similar taxa. Modern molecular approaches can be limited by a lack of regional references in sequence databases. A basin-wide survey throughout the Gulf of Mexico allows for the quantitative comparison of these two approaches. Samples were collected during the GOMECC-03 and XIXIMI-06 surveys in the summer of 2017 using oblique bongo tows from 0-200m depth outfitted with 335 um mesh nets. Metabarcoding of a 313 bp fragment of the COI gene will be coupled to morphological identification of samples from 27 stations (13 neritic and 14 oceanic). Our results provide valuable information for researchers weighing the advantages and limitations of using traditional or molecular approaches for the characterization of larval fish communities.