The researchers sought to understand how zooplankton communities varied between locations and through time. This information will help improve the Council’s monitoring program for marine invasive species.
Document Author: Moss Landing Marine Laboratory
Metagenetic Analysis of 2018 and 2019 Plankton Samples from Prince William Sound, Alaska
This final report provided the results of an analysis on the genes of plankton gathered in Port Valdez and Prince William Sound in 2018 and 2019.
For this project, the Council partnered with the Prince William Sound Science Center, who collected the samples, and Moss Landing Marine Laboratory in California, who conducted the genetic analysis.
The Council monitors for marine invasive species which could potentially arrive in ballast water or on the hull of the crude oil tankers arriving at the Valdez Marine Terminal These tankers dock in ports known to harbor marine invasive species. Some invasive species could cause significant economic and environmental harm if reproducing populations became established locally.
Metagenetic Analysis of 2017 Plankton Samples from Prince William Sound, Alaska
Plankton samples, collected by the Prince William Sound Science Center (PWSSC), were analyzed by the Molecular Ecology Laboratory at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. The samples were taken from five stations in May of 2017 in Port Valdez and elsewhere in PWS.
DNA was extracted from bulk plankton and a portion of the mitochondrial Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene, the most commonly used DNA barcode for animals, was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Products of PCR were sequenced using Illumina reagents and MiSeq instrument. 211 operational taxonomic units (an approximation of biological species) were found and 52 were identified to species.
Most species were crustaceans and molluscs, and none were non-native. Researchers also compared PWSRCAC samples taken in 2016 to the current set of samples. Fewer species were identified in 2017 than in 2016, but sampling methods varied across years. Standardization of methods and a longer time series are necessary to investigate temporal trends.
Quantitative Survey Of Nonindigenous Species
All were benthic (bottom dwelling – planktonic as larvae) organisms. These were: the Atlantic mudwhelk Illyanassa obsolete, the Asian mussel Muscalista senhousia, the European hydrozoan Cordylophora, the Atlantic bryozoan Bugula stolonifera, the clam Mya arenaria, the Asian shrimp Palaemon macrodactylus, the polychaete Streblospio gynobranchiata, and the tunicate Botrylloides violaceus. Only two of these species are known to be previously established in Alaska, including M. arenaria and B. violaceus. Only the first of these is known presently to occur in PWS, based on previous surveys.