Development of a Marine Fish Archive and Molecular Database for the Identification of Ichthyoplankton in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (2010)

In 2010 the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) began construction on an extensive database of Gulf of Mexico fish species and the genetic information available for each. Due to the impossibility of identifying fish eggs through morphological characteristics, the only accurate method of identification is through molecular analysis. Real-time PCR makes it possible to identify the species of eggs cheaply, efficiently, and in-house; however, this methodology requires an extensive amount of genetic data that must be adequately organized to be manageable. This information is organized in a database with publicly available information found in Barcode of Life Data Systems, GenBank, and FishBase. The database serves to identify what Gulf of Mexico species are missing from public databases and need to be collected. This database will be complemented by a voucher collection including three to five specimens of each species, to be analyzed genetically and preserved for museum use. The creation of this database is the start of an ongoing process of collecting and preserving specimens for the in-house genetic library.