Xi Rui, Gao Wanru, Wang Xin, Xing Yingchun
National Demonstration Center for Experimental Fisheries Science Education, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China National Demonstration Center for Experimental Fisheries Science Education, Shanghai Ocean University Shanghai 201306 China.
Resource and Environmental Research Center, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Beijing 100141, China Resource and Environmental Research Center, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences Beijing 100141 China.
Biodivers Data J. 2022 Sep 30;10:e89685. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.10.e89685. eCollection 2022.
West Island is the second largest island in the Hainan Province, China and its surrounding sea area has a well-preserved coral reef ecosystem and high species diversity of coral reef fishes. Undoubtedly, coral reef fishes and coral reefs have complex symbiotic relationships and fish species diversity should reflect the healthy status of coral reef ecosystems. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a useful and sensitive tool to detect fish species and causes less environmental damage than traditional fish survey methods. This paper investigated coral reef fish species of West Island, Hainan Province, China, based on eDNA and provided scientific data for understanding and protection of the coral reef ecosystem of the South China Sea.
The sea area surrounding West Island is the most important component of the coral reef ecosystem in the northern part of the South China Sea, which is also an essential part of the largest National Coral Reef Reserve in China. However, complete data of fish species distributed in this region have been a long-term gap. This study provides information on 41 fish species belonging to 28 genera, 16 families and three orders in this sea area and is the first complete record of coral reef fishes surrounding the West Island. In addition, the information of Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) for taxon identification were also provided and it could contribute to building specific eDNA taxonomy database of coral reef fishes of the South China Sea. The study includes three datasets, with aspects of fish taxon-occurrences, MOTUs sequences and information of environmental indicators surrounding West Island, Hainan Province, China. The "fish taxon occurrences" dataset presents records involving taxonomic, distribution, habitat condition, latitude and longitude of 41 coral reef fish species detected, based on eDNA, the "MOTUs sequences" dataset provides MOTUs sequences and their abundance of 31 species detected and the "information of environmental indicators" dataset presents records of transparency, temperature, water pressure, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, hydrogen and redox potential measured from five sampling localities.
西岛是中国海南省的第二大岛，其周边海域拥有保存完好的珊瑚礁生态系统，珊瑚礁鱼类物种多样性高。毫无疑问，珊瑚礁鱼类与珊瑚礁有着复杂的共生关系，鱼类物种多样性应能反映珊瑚礁生态系统的健康状况。环境DNA（eDNA）是一种有用且灵敏的工具，可用于检测鱼类物种，且对环境的破坏比传统鱼类调查方法小。本文基于eDNA对中国海南省西岛的珊瑚礁鱼类物种进行了调查，为了解和保护南海珊瑚礁生态系统提供了科学数据。
西岛周边海域是南海北部珊瑚礁生态系统的最重要组成部分，也是中国最大的国家级珊瑚礁保护区的重要部分。然而，该区域鱼类物种的完整数据一直存在长期缺口。本研究提供了该海域28属、16科、3目41种鱼类的信息，是西岛周边珊瑚礁鱼类的首次完整记录。此外，还提供了用于分类鉴定的分子操作分类单元（MOTUs）信息，这有助于建立南海珊瑚礁鱼类特定的eDNA分类数据库。该研究包括三个数据集，涉及中国海南省西岛周边鱼类分类单元出现情况、MOTUs序列以及环境指标信息。“鱼类分类单元出现情况”数据集呈现了基于eDNA检测到的41种珊瑚礁鱼类的分类、分布、栖息地状况、纬度和经度记录，“MOTUs序列”数据集提供了检测到的31种鱼类的MOTUs序列及其丰度，“环境指标信息”数据集呈现了从五个采样地点测量的透明度、温度、水压、溶解氧、电导率、酸碱度和氧化还原电位记录。
