Round Goby + American Eel eDNA Surveillance

Round goby, a benthic invasive species from the Ponto-Caspian region which has established
populations throughout the Great Lakes, is currently moving east across New York State towards
the Hudson River. Once established in the Hudson, the goby will continue to push its invasion
front northward towards Lake Champlain. As round goby becomes established in new territories,
substantial changes to littoral and benthic communities are often observed. In this project, we use
eDNA to monitor the invasion front of round goby as they move east through the Mohawk River
and employ DNA metabarcoding to provide a baseline community assessment against which
shifts in community composition following the arrival of the goby can be compared.
Additionally, we are analyzing environmental samples collected for this project for American eel
eDNA in an attempt to improve efforts being made to identify migration barriers such as dams,
locks, etc.