Experimental evaluation of genetic variability based on DNA metabarcoding from the aquatic environment: Insights from the Leray COI fragment

Intraspecific genetic variation is important for the assessment of organisms’ resistance to changing environments and anthropogenic pressures. Aquatic DNA metabarcoding provides a non-invasive method in biodiversity research, including investigations at the within-species level. Through the analysis of eDNA samples collected from the Peter the Great Gulf of the Japan Sea, in this study we aimed to evaluate the identification of Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) in marine eDNA among abundant species of the Zostera sp. community: Hexagrammos octogrammus, Pholidapus dybowskii (Teleostei: Perciformes), and Pandalus latirostris (Arthropoda: Decapoda). These species were collected from two distant locations to produce mock communities and gather aquatic eDNA both on the community and individual level. Our approach highlights the efficacy of eDNA metabarcoding in capturing haplotypic diversity and the potential for this methodology to track genetic diversity accurately, contributing to conserv..., Please refer to the article and the README file with the deposited data., , # Experimental evaluation of genetic variability based on DNA metabarcoding from the aquatic environment: insights from the Leray COI fragment

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sf7m0cgfk](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sf7m0cgfk)

**Sergei Turanov**

Laboratory of Deep Sea Research, A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia

## **Dataset Description**

This dataset contains information on the experimental evaluation of genetic variability using DNA metabarcoding techniques focused on the Leray COI fragment. The data were collected from environmental DNA (eDNA) of the aquatic animals in the Japan Sea. In addition, we analyzed 83 publicly available *COI* sequence datasets from common groups of multicellular organisms (Mollusca, Echinodermata, Crustacea, Polychaeta, and Actinopterygii).

## **File Organization**

The dataset is organized into several files and supplements as described below:

### **Suppl...