benthic eDNA metabarcode sample
Environmental DNA was extracted from kick-net benthic samples using the DNeasy PowerWater Kit (QIAGEN). COI amplicons were generated using a two-step PCR protocol with fusion-tagged primers, followed by library preparation with Illumina Nextera adapters. Amplicons were purified with AMPure XP beads, quantified using a Qubit fluorometer, normalized, and pooled. The final library was sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq platform using a 2300 bp paired-end v3 kit