Welcome to Marine Megafauna
by Franck Pichot - PhD Stutend in Marine Biology
About me
Teacher "agrégé" at the French Ministry of Education. I have been teaching in the Porto-Vecchio region (South Corsica) since 2000.
After several years of teaching, I decided to enroll in a PhD program at the UMR MARBEC (Marine Biodiversity, Exploitation and Conservation) of the University of Montpellier.
I am therefore enrolled in parallel to my activity as a secondary school teacher in a PhD study under the supervision of David Mouillot (UMR MARBEC), Olivier ADAM (Paris Sorbonne (Institut d'Alembert) and Julie Deter (UMR MARBEC / Andromède Océanologie).
My research focuses on the detection and monitoring of marine megafauna species using environmental DNA (eDNA) in order to estimate marine biodiversity.
My study at local (Corsica), regional (western Mediterranean) and global (world scale) scales focuses on the estimation of elasmobranch (sharks rays and skates) and marine mammal biodiversity.
To allow such a study, the development of a genetic reference base is a must. To do so, I actively collaborate with fishermen, aquariums, museums and scientists.
My thesis supervisors
David Mouillot
MARine Biodiversity, Explotation and Conservation
University of Montpellier
Julie Deter
MARine Biodiversity, Explotation and Conservation
University of Montpellier
Andromède Oceanology
Olivier Adam
Sorbonne University, Paris
Alembert Institute
My work Collecting samples
Collecting tissue on the field
Taking advantage of strandings to collect the tissues of the species to extract the DNA in order to obtain a genetic barcode
Tissue from museum collections
Collecting sampling with aquariums
Collaborative work with the veterinary teams of the aquariums for the collection of blood tissue.
Environmental DNA
"In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans".
Kahlil Gibran Jr.
Tous les êtres vivants laissent des traces d’ADN dans leurs environnements. Cet ADN peut être libéré en étant contenu dans l’urine, les gamètes, le sang, le mucus, la perte d’épiderme...
For most species we find a genetic barcode corresponding to a single sequence surrounded on either side by two sequences conserved in all species belonging to the group studied.
Example of a barcode (source: Environmental DNA, Taberlet et al. 2018).
Collecting eDNA samples
The filtration of sea water is carried out as far as possible by scuba diving using a pump specially designed to filter 30 liters of water for 30 minutes.
The DNA present in the seawater is then retained by a 0.22 μM filter. The limitation of surface handling reduces the risk of contamination and therefore the presence of false positives during our sampling.
This method is used between 0 and 120 meters depth with the help of divers from Andromeda Oceanology.
For deeper samples (up to 1500m) we use another pump specially designed to resist high pressures.
Logistics are also provided by the company Andromède Océanologie with which we have a partnership.
Presentation of my work at conferences
The French Union of Aquarium Curators - UCA
Presentation at Nausicáa (Boulogne-sur-mer) - 2021
Spanish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AEZA)
Presentation at Barcelona - 2022
Sharks International 2022
SI22
Presentación en Valencia - 2023
International Aquarium Congress
IAC 2022
Presentación en Boulogne-sur-mer - 2022
Asociación Ibérica de Zoos y Acuarios (AIZA)
Presentación en Palma de Gran Canarias - 2023
