Is quantitative PCR (qPCR) an effective method to count larvae

Currently the only way to determine the number of coral larvae in a plankton sample is to manually count the larvae under microscope.
The dataset contains information from a trial to test the suitability of quantitative PCR to measure larval number.
Prior to the start of each spawning season a single species of coral was placed in a rearing tank at the Heron Island Research Station. Other tanks were prepared in parallel with different species (when available). The number of species per spawning season ranged from 2 to 4 species.
Each day post spawning event a set number of larvae were removed from the tank (e.g. 1 larvae, 10 larvae, 100 larvae) and placed into 2mL tubes. There were 5 replicates per count. Samples of tank water were also taken each time larvae were removed from the tank. All samples were preserved at -20⁰C for DNA extractions.
This process was repeated over 4 spawning seasons (2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022).
DNA was extracted from the larval samples and from the tank water samples. The DNA was then run through a quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay designed specifically for coral larvae. The output is expressed as the number of copies of the cytochrome oxidase I gene in an individual larvae at a particular age.

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Metadata is fully public. Data files will be made fully public once the research has been published.
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