Indices of fish egg production are essential for understanding recruitment and developing stock assessment models for species management. Traditional methods of enumerating and identifying planktonic fish eggs entail time-consuming microscopy. Furthermore, eggs of different species are often morphologically indistinguishable leading to erroneous population assessments that affect management decisions. We aim to develop a rapid, cost-efficient, and novel molecular tool that will facilitate fish egg identification and quantification using the economically important species red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) as our target organism. Sandwich hybridization assay enables rapid, direct detection of large subunit rRNA sequences using two DNA oligonucleotides (signal and capture) in a 96-well plate, and results are determined at A450 and A650 nm.
The research team plans to (1) identify a LSU rRNA region of interest and design corresponding capture probes specific to S. ocellatus, (2) validate probe specificity against a variety of fish species, (3) refine the assay for quantification of S. ocellatus eggs through generating standard curves against known egg abundances, (4) validate assay quantification against natural field samples, and (5) transfer the technology through workshops and peer-reviewed literature for the purpose of enhancing end-user monitoring and research activities.