Dataset

UNESCO eDNA expedition in Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles): April 2023

OBIS Secretariat DNADerivedData Open in mapper Explore occurrences

This dataset contains the eDNA data collected as a part of the UNESCO eDNA expeditions in Marine World Heritage Sites project in 2022-2024. The project was coordinated in collaboration with the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) of IOC-UNESCO and the marine programme of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, and funded by the government of Flanders (Kingdom of Belgium). The samples were collected with citizen science eDNA sampling kits, containing a syringe and a filter, and preserved with Longmire's buffer, before sequencing at a central laboratory. Five different biomarkers were analysed, including 12SMifish, Mimammal, Teleo, 16S-Vert and COI markers. The sequences were analysed with the PacMAN pipeline and quality controlled including a validation check by local scientists and site managers as well as compared to existing knowledge on species distributions in OBIS and GBIF. The full sampling protocols and materials are available on the project website (https://www.unesco.org/en/edna-training-materials?hub=66910), and the bioinformatics pipeline is on github (https://github.com/iobis/PacMAN-pipeline). The data can also be explored on the eDNA expeditions dashboard (https://dashboard.ednaexpeditions.org/).

Citation: Fleischer-Dogley F, Montano L, Constance A, Latsha J, Suominen S, Provoost P, Gillard E, Douvere F, Appeltans W (2026). UNESCO eDNA expedition in Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles): April 2023. Version 2.2. OBIS Secretariat. Occurrence dataset. https://doi.org/10.25607/eveucz

Published: April 29, 2026 at 08:43

First registration: December 07, 2024 at 22:11

License: To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

URL: https://ipt.obis.org/secretariat/resource?r=edna-aldabra-atoll

Contacts:

Frauke Fleischer-Dogley
Seychelles Islands Foundation

Laura Montano
Seychelles Islands Foundation

Annabelle Constance
Seychelles Islands Foundation

Joey Latsha
Seychelles Islands Foundation

Saara Suominen
UNESCO-IOC

Pieter Provoost
UNESCO-IOC

Elle Gillard
UNESCO-WHC

Fanny Douvere
UNESCO-WHC

Ward Appeltans
UNESCO-IOC

180,026
occurrence records
180,026
sequences
1,192
taxa
732
species

Taxa

Missing and invalid fields

Field Missing Invalid
coordinateUncertaintyInMeters 180,026
100.0%
maximumDepthInMeters 180,026
100.0%
minimumDepthInMeters 180,026
100.0%
scientificNameID 88,459 9
49.1%

Quality flags

The OBIS data quality flags are documented at https://github.com/iobis/obis-qc.

Flag Dropped Records
NO_DEPTH 180,026
100.0%
NO_MATCH 87,853
48.8%
ON_LAND 39,324
21.8%
NO_ACCEPTED_NAME 34,640
19.2%
MARINE_UNSURE 66
0.0%
NOT_MARINE 32
0.0%

Measurement types

DNA derived data