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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">102</journal-id>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="index">urn:lsid:arphahub.com:pub:73abe0ce-d97c-5d7c-bee5-b8e6e6fe6a17</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title xml:lang="en">ARPHA Preprints</journal-title>
        <abbrev-journal-title xml:lang="en">preprints</abbrev-journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>Pensoft Publishers</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3897/arphapreprints.e152125</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">152125</article-id>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Research Article</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="biological_taxon">
          <subject>Actinopterygii</subject>
          <subject>Decapoda</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="scientific_subject">
          <subject>Conservation Biology</subject>
          <subject>Environmental protection</subject>
          <subject>Populations &amp; Communities</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="geographical_area">
          <subject>Martinique</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Metabarcoding outperforms traditional electrofishing in decapod and fish inventories, paving the way for enhanced biodiversity monitoring in the Caribbean</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group content-type="authors">
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Baudry</surname>
            <given-names>Thomas</given-names>
          </name>
          <email xlink:type="simple">thmsbaudry@gmail.com</email>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1">1</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Vasselon</surname>
            <given-names>Valentin</given-names>
          </name>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5038-7918</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A2">2</xref>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A3">3</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Delaunay</surname>
            <given-names>Carine</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1">1</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Arqué</surname>
            <given-names>Alexandre</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A4">4</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Rateau</surname>
            <given-names>Fabian</given-names>
          </name>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1857-3387</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A5">5</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Lala</surname>
            <given-names>Géraldine</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A6">6</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Maurice-Madelon</surname>
            <given-names>Claire</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A7">7</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Grandjean</surname>
            <given-names>Frederic</given-names>
          </name>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8494-0985</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1">1</xref>
        </contrib>
      </contrib-group>
      <aff id="A1">
        <label>1</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France</addr-line>
        <institution>University of Poitiers</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Poitiers</addr-line>
        <country>France</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A2">
        <label>2</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">SCIMABIO-Interface, Thonon-Les-Bains, France</addr-line>
        <institution>SCIMABIO-Interface</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Thonon-Les-Bains</addr-line>
        <country>France</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A3">
        <label>3</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">SCIMABIO-Interface, Thonon-les-Bains, France</addr-line>
        <institution>SCIMABIO-Interface</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Thonon-les-Bains</addr-line>
        <country>France</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A4">
        <label>4</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Office Français pour la Biodiversité (OFB), Saint-Etienne au Mont, France</addr-line>
        <institution>Office Français pour la Biodiversité (OFB)</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Saint-Etienne au Mont</addr-line>
        <country>France</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A5">
        <label>5</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Office Français pour la Biodiversité (OFB), Trois-Ilets, Martinique (Fr)</addr-line>
        <institution>Office Français pour la Biodiversité (OFB)</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Trois-Ilets</addr-line>
        <country>Martinique (Fr)</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A6">
        <label>6</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Office de l'Eau de Martinique, Fort-de-France, Martinique (Fr)</addr-line>
        <institution>Office de l'Eau de Martinique</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Fort-de-France</addr-line>
        <country>Martinique (Fr)</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A7">
        <label>7</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Direction de l'Environnement, de l'Aménagement et du Logement de Martinique, Schoelcher, Martinique (Fr)</addr-line>
        <institution>Direction de l'Environnement, de l'Aménagement et du Logement de Martinique</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Schoelcher</addr-line>
        <country>Martinique (Fr)</country>
      </aff>
      <author-notes>
        <fn fn-type="corresp">
          <p>Corresponding author: Thomas Baudry (<email xlink:type="simple">thmsbaudry@gmail.com</email>).</p>
        </fn>
        <fn fn-type="edited-by">
          <p>Academic editor: </p>
        </fn>
      </author-notes>
      <pub-date pub-type="collection">
        <year>2025</year>
      </pub-date>
      <pub-date pub-type="epub">
        <day>06</day>
        <month>03</month>
        <year>2025</year>
      </pub-date>
      <volume>6</volume>
      <uri content-type="arpha" xlink:href="http://openbiodiv.net/CC3520B4-C3F3-5744-8DA2-54322929348F">CC3520B4-C3F3-5744-8DA2-54322929348F</uri>
      <history>
        <date date-type="received">
          <day>05</day>
          <month>03</month>
          <year>2025</year>
        </date>
        <date date-type="accepted">
          <day>05</day>
          <month>03</month>
          <year>2025</year>
        </date>
      </history>
      <permissions>
        <copyright-statement>Thomas Baudry, Valentin Vasselon, Carine Delaunay, Alexandre Arqué, Fabian Rateau, Géraldine Lala, Claire Maurice-Madelon, Frederic Grandjean</copyright-statement>
        <license license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple">
          <license-p>This is an open access preprint distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.</license-p>
        </license>
      </permissions>
      <abstract>
        <label>Abstract</label>
        <p>Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has revolutionized the biodiversity monitoring in aquatic ecosystems, giving access to taxonomic lists in a non-disruptive way. Despite limits (taxonomic resolution nor taxa quantification), the method has repeatedly proved its effectiveness and is now used as routine freshwater monitoring tool. Especially since traditional method, including electrofishing (TEF), are reputed stressful for the species, non-selective and disruptive for the ecosystem, leading to its abandonment in Martinique (F.W.I.) for regular monitoring. The aim of this project was to explore the possibility of using eDNA metabarcoding for the detection of fish and decapods in Martinique streams, by first validating it with TEF. We selected 14 stations, a representative panel of the river diversity, and performed TEF and eDNA to compare both, based on the species richness recovered. Then, from eDNA taxonomic inventories, we assessed the ecological state of the studied stations, using different biodiversity indices (Shannon, Simpson and Bray-Curtis) and investigated how stations abiotic characteristics shape assemblages. Here, we confirmed the eDNA metabarcoding method as a reliable tool for monitoring fish and decapods, confirming most of the taxa caught by TEF and revealing the presence of additional (native and/or invasive) species. We faced some issues in discriminating some genetically close species (e.g. Sicydium sp.) potentially leading to under-representation in community assemblages, but not in functional diversity. Additional efforts are needed to raise standardized protocols, but we encourage stakeholders to join such initiative to shed light on the rich biodiversity in sometimes poorly studied regions and to face invasions.</p>
      </abstract>
      <funding-group>
        <funding-statement>We warmly thank the Office Français de la Biodiversité (OFB), the Office de l’Eau (ODE) de Martinique and the Direction de l’Environnement, de l’Aménagement et du Logement (DEAL) de Martinique for financing TB's post-doctoral contract, as well as the functioning of the InCrust project. This work was also supported by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the University of Poitiers, for lab facilities and intramural funds. And we end by thanking Marion Labeille working at Sentinelle Lab (Guadeloupe, F.W.I.) for TEF expertise and support. Part of the experiments (Illumina sequencing) were performed at the PGTB (doi:10.15454/1.5572396583599417E12) with the help of Préscillia Alves-Gomes and Erwan Guichoux.</funding-statement>
      </funding-group>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
</article>
