The profiles of mammals, birds and fish in twelve water bodies on the Montreal Island by mitochondrial DNA

The Island of Montreal is composed of a variety of environments, such as undeveloped natural areas, urban parks, and dense residential areas. These environments are home to several types of surface waters, such as ponds, marshes, lakes, streams, and rivers, where some wild animals have adapted. Among them are exotic and invasive animals, which could displace natural animals or endanger people through unwanted interactions. The Montreal Urban Community (MUC) wishes to assess the extent of the presence of exotic or invasive animals in waterbodies on the Island of Montreal to coordinate mitigation measures. We used primers designed to primarily target mammals, fish, and birds to amplify a portion of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA genome from total DNA extracted from twelve waterbodies on the Island of Montreal. The resulting amplicons were sequenced (Illumina technology), and the animal lineages and their proportions were determined.