Primer Designs for Identifying Seven Species of Gars and Potential Hybrids at the Belle Isle Aquarium

Gars are apex predators in aquatic systems and traditionally viewed as bad for sport fishing; however, a more modern perspective is that gars have important roles in aquatic ecosystems.  Also, some native mussel species require gars as hosts for their larval glochidia stage.  To better manage gar species, this project is developing and validating PCR primers of all 7 species of gars, all of which are on display at the Belle Isle Aquarium (http://detroitaquarium.weebly.com/).  Focusing mainly on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI), primers designed to amplify only gar species (i.e. “universal gar primers”) amplified DNA from all species, confirmed by sequencing.  Only one of three ostensible Shortnose Gar specimens exhibited a Shortnose Gar matriline; the other two are possible Longnose x Shortnose Gar hybrids. Primers specific to Atractosteus and Lepisosteus genera have been tested, and specific primers for several species have been developed.  While confirming identities of the 7 gar species at the Belle Isle Aquarium, the data also suggest possible hybrids. When fully developed, these primers will fill a need for gar eDNA markers in managing gar fisheries and restoration projects. Where gars are being restored, these molecular tools can be used to assess population distributions with great sensitivity.