NGS data for fish 12S rRNA

Water samples were collected from six marine parks (MPs): The Brothers Marine Park (BMP), South Lantau Marine Park (SLMP), Southwest Lantau Marine Park (SWLMP), Tung Ping Chau Marine Park (TPCMP), Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park (HHWMP), and Yan Chau Tong Marine Park (YCTMP), and one marine reserve (MR) Cape D'Aguilar Marine Reserve (CDMR) and four non-protected sites Tolo Channel 1, Tolo Channel 2, Po Toi Island, and Lamma Island in Hong Kong. Sample collection within the MPs and the MR was conducted with permits (#000780 (28) in AF MPD/09/3 Pt.27 and #000781 (30) AF MPD/09/3 Pt.27) issued by Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR (AFCD, https://www.afcd.gov.hk).The primer set 12S_V5 (F: 5'- ACTGGGATTAGATACCCC -3', R: 5'- TAGAACAGGCTCCTCTAG -3'), targeting the 12S ribosomal gene of fish, was used for the amplification. Paired-end unique barcodes were added during the library construction to distinguish the samples in the high-throughput sequencing. The sequencing was performed in BGI Hong Kong using the DNBSEQ PE150 platform, which was considered a reliable high-throughput sequencing platform. Each gene region of all samples was run in a single lane with a 30% lane control (random insert sequences introduced in sequencing to adjust base balance) to increase the nucleotide diversity of our samples. The high-throughput paired-end dataset was demultiplexed according to the unique barcodes. The barcodes and primer sequences were trimmed using Qiime2.