2022 Volume 45 Issue 5 Pages 223-230
To quantitatively evaluate the structure of biological communities using environmental DNA (eDNA) data, it is important to know the decay and shedding rates as well as the concentration of eDNA. However, this information is lacking for marine decapods. Thus, in this study, the decay and shedding rates of eDNA were investigated by performing rearing experiments using Portunus pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758) . The decay rate of eDNA was calculated to be 0.0397 for nonacclimated individuals and 0.0515–0.0586 for acclimated individuals. The values for acclimated individuals were slightly lower than those of fish (0.0585–0.0919) reported in a previous study. The shedding rate after 48 h of rearing was not calculated for nonacclimated individuals, but it was calculated to be 1.97–7.75 pg hr-1 ind-1 for acclimated individuals. The shedding rate of fish, according to previous studies, is 103–107 pg hr-1 ind-1, thus the shedding rate of marine decapods was lower than that of fish. These results indicate that marine decapod eDNA is utilized for a quantitative evaluation. This would require an increase in sample volume, which is different from of fish.
