Marine ecosystems are being negatively affected worldwide by several threats, including but not limited to, overfishing, warming, pollutants including plastics, rising sea levels, and changes in pH levels. Another serious and growing threat to marine ecosystems is the worldwide decline in shark populations which disrupts marine biodiversity and the maintenance of healthy marine ecosystems. Limited studies have investigated the Red Sea shark population and recent studies have mainly investigated the shark population on the Saudi Arabian side of the Red Sea. Thus, there is an urgent need to research shark populations in the popular tourist destination of the Red Sea. Recent shark accidents in the Red Sea are also poorly understood due to the lack of research on sharks. Our study utilizes environmental DNA (eDNA) isolated along the Egyptian Red Sea coast, in the region of Marsa Alam, in an area known for sharks’ presence and an area known to be deficient in sharks. Water was collected, and filtered on a 0.1 μm filter, and DNA isolation was followed by the amplification of a 171-bp 12S ribosomal fragment of the mitochondrial genome. Sequencing of both the former, and 16S rRNA is currently being carried out. The DNA metabarcoding data will provide insight into the difference in the shark community between the two sites, and its potential relationship with the microbiome. This study, therefore, aims to preliminarily monitor shark populations utilizing this new emerging method in the Red Sea to provide more insight into shark populations.

Primary Presenter: Lina El Sayed Aly, The American University in Cairo (linaelsayed@aucegypt.edu)

Authors:

Lina El Sayed Aly, The American University in Cairo  (linaelsayed@aucegypt.edu)

Omar Attum, Indiana University Southeast  (oattum@ius.edu)

Ahmed Fouad, The Red Sea Project  (ahmed@redsea-project.com)

Amged Ouf, The American University in Cairo  (amgedouf@aucegypt.edu)

Rania Siam, The American University in Cairo  (rsiam@aucegypt.edu)