Neotropical Fish Community eDNA Data from the Jequitinhonha River

Environmental DNA metabarcoding data from sediment and water samples collected at 11 locations along the Jequitinhonha River catchment in Brazil. The dataset includes 252 Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) corresponding to 34 fish species, sampled twice over a five-week period around a major rain event. It was created by Naiara Guimarães Sales of the University of Salford to evaluate eDNA for biomonitoring.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatio-temporal variation in fish assemblages based on sampling before and after a rain event
• Detecting anthropogenic impacts on fish diversity based on observations near dams
• Identifying endemic, introduced, and previously unrecorded species for a river basin
• Evaluating river mouth sections as putative 'eDNA reservoirs' for rapid monitoring

Strengths

• Data covers 11 distinct sampling locations along a river catchment
• Includes 252 MOTUs and 34 identified fish species
• Samples were taken twice, capturing temporal variation around a rain event
• Recovered endemic, introduced, and previously unrecorded species

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified

Provenance

Source

University of Salford

Collection Method

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of sediment and water samples, analyzed via high-throughput sequencing of 12S rRNA amplicons.

Time Range

Sampling occurred twice over a five-week period.

Geography

Jequitinhonha River catchment, Brazil.