A line with no hook: longline-associated passive eDNA samplers for deep-sea fish monitoring

Spiga, M, Crobe, V, Ferrari, A ORCID: 0000-0002-3499-8396, Maiello, G, Bueloni, E, Cilli, E, Russo, T, Di Crescenzo, S, Cannas, R, Catalano, G, Piccinetti, C, Mariani, S ORCID: 0000-0002-5329-0553 and Cariani, A (2025) A line with no hook: longline-associated passive eDNA samplers for deep-sea fish monitoring. Marine Environmental Research, 215. p. 107823. ISSN 0141-1136

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Abstract

Monitoring the status of marine biological resources is a key activity in biodiversity conservation and fisheries science. While scientific surveys still largely rely on costly and labour-intensive visual and capture-based methods, sequencing DNA traces from the environment has emerged as a promising alternative and integrative tool for biodiversity assessments. The environmental DNA (eDNA) approach has recently been further boosted by the development of a variety of passive collection methods, which can considerably reduce costs and upscale sampling reach. We adopted a 3D-printed, low-cost passive eDNA sampler (the ‘metaprobe’) to collect data during a deep-sea demersal longline survey in the southern Adriatic Sea (depth range: 900–1147 m). eDNA samples from 12 metaprobes were metabarcoded using 12S rDNA primers targeting elasmobranchs, and taxonomic assignment was performed against an improved custom 12S Mediterranean fish reference database. eDNA detected all four cartilaginous and three of the five bony fish species captured, and additionally 11 species (three cartilaginous and eight bony fish) not caught by the gear. These taxa not caught by the longline produced a more comprehensive picture of the deep pelagic fish assemblages (e.g., large pelagic species such as tuna and swordfish, and mesopelagic lanternfishes) and the diel variation related to these species' behaviours, highlighting the potential benefit of integrating this simple sampling tool with cooperating longline fisheries operations. Further investigation should refine sampling methodologies to optimize metaprobes interaction with longlines, to expand the types of fishing activity that can contribute to next-generation marine ecosystem monitoring.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Animals; Fishes; Biodiversity; Environmental Monitoring; Mediterranean Sea; DNA, Environmental; Demersal habitat; Elasmobranchs; Fishery; Southern adriatic sea; Teleost; eDNA metabarcoding; 41 Environmental Sciences; 3103 Ecology; 4104 Environmental Management; 31 Biological Sciences; 14 Life Below Water; 15 Life on Land; Animals; Fishes; DNA, Environmental; Environmental Monitoring; Biodiversity; Mediterranean Sea; 03 Chemical Sciences; 05 Environmental Sciences; 06 Biological Sciences; Marine Biology & Hydrobiology; 31 Biological sciences; 34 Chemical sciences; 41 Environmental sciences
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Divisions:	Biological and Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
Date of acceptance:	29 December 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	6 February 2026
Date Deposited:	06 Feb 2026 08:46
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2026 08:46
DOI or ID number:	10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107823
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28060

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