Résumé
The primary objective of the Moorea Biocode Project (MBP) is to genetically barcode an entire tropical ecosystem, from the top of the highest peaks to the limits of diving depth, including all macro-algae, fungi, plants and animals. A one-year pilot phase of the MBP concentrated on a few taxonomic groups that included fishes and macro-crustaceans. During the pilot phase, we also collected various samples of marine larvae and screened them using DNA barcodes to (A) verify proof of concept – that larvae could be sampled effectively using this technique, and (B) to determine the effectiveness of our sampling by examining the level of taxonomic overlap between larval collections and adult censusing. Concentrating on fishes and decapods at first, we were successful in generating marine barcodes for >90% of the individual larvae. However, only 25% of the decapod larvae matched adult sampled specimens, whereas approximately half (48%) of the fish larvae matched sampled adult species. These results are not surprising as efforts to comprehensively sample the decapod fauna were not as rigorous as those for fishes. Nevertheless, the lack of accurate matches (<3% genetic divergence) indicates that a large portion of the reef community remains under-sampled, either because of accessibility (buried deep within the reef matrix), rarity or depth (deep reef fauna). Future efforts in the next three years of the MBP are geared toward closing this gap between sampling methods and understanding the causes of this disparity