SEA-MES eDNA: Marine Biodiversity Survey of Southeast Australia

Environmental DNA biodiversity data from offshore marine sites across Southeast Australia, collected during the RV Investigator SEA-MES voyages IN2023_V05 and IN2024_V03. The dataset consists of processed eDNA metabarcoding data, with raw sequence data comprising over 180 million sequences available from NCBI BioProject PRJNA1263580. The project was managed by the Australian Ocean Data Network and the data was last updated in July 2026.

Use Cases

• Assess fish biodiversity patterns based on eDNA sequence data from offshore sites.
• Refine eDNA sampling and analysis methods based on technical assessments mentioned in the description.
• Study cross-taxa biodiversity from bacteria to vertebrates using the full tree-of-life sequence data.
• Compare biodiversity across broadly distributed offshore sites in Southeast Australia.

Strengths

• Includes over 180 million raw eDNA sequences available from a public NCBI BioProject.
• Focuses on fish but includes sequence data from the full tree of life, from bacteria to vertebrates.
• Data was collected to assess key technical aspects of eDNA collection for refining future methods.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network via data.gov.au

Collection Method

Samples collected during RV Investigator voyages IN2023_V05 and IN2024_V03, with data processed from eDNA metabarcoding assays.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-13 20:08:22.995656; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Broadly distributed offshore sites across Southeast Australia.