DNA

One especially elusive example is the estuarine pipefish (Syngnathus watermeyeri). It is the only critically endangered syngnathid (the family of fishes that ...

[The Conversation](https://theconversation.com) under a Creative Commons license. [pipefish](https://phys.org/tags/pipefish/) (Syngnathus watermeyeri). This highlights the importance of conserving the Kariega and Bushmans estuaries as a sanctuary for the Critically Endangered syngnathid. The samples were filtered shortly after collection and taken to the [TrEnD laboratory](https://research.curtin.edu.au/scieng/trend-lab/) at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, which has been specially set up for trace and environmental DNA work like this. This research now means that scientists have a much better picture of the estuarine pipefish's status. A species-specific assay developed for this study was used to detect the estuarine pipefish in our samples. [genetic material](https://phys.org/tags/genetic+material/) derived from organisms—skin cells, blood, feces and so on—that can be extracted from [environmental samples](https://phys.org/tags/environmental+samples/) such as water, soil, ice or air. With this method alone, the estuarine pipefish was found at five sites—four within the Bushmans Estuary and one site in the Kariega Estuary. This knowledge represents a crucial first step to establishing a long-term monitoring and recovery plan for the estuarine pipefish. We conducted seine netting surveys simultaneously to compare the sensitivity of both methods for estuarine pipefish detection. There are an estimated [100–250 remaining globally](https://www.iucnredlist.org/fr/species/41030/67621860), but not much more is known. Population survey methods that work for other species—such as netting, counting and tagging—are simply not as effective for the elusive S.