Design Aquatic Invasive Animal Early-Detection Surveillance and Verification

Record the decision owner, jurisdiction, target taxon or group, non-target taxa, life stages, pathway, waterbody boundary, reporting threshold, verification owner, response horizon, and current official watchlist or status source. Native range and invasive status are geographic and time-bounded; being native somewhere does not make a taxon native here.

Sources: [1], [5], [11]

Freeze access, collection, possession, transport, release, animal-welfare, protected-resource, boating, diving, electrical, chemical, laboratory, waste, and reporting controls. Apply an approved Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point or equivalent pathway-focused biosecurity plan. Define clean and dirty zones, between-site sequence, equipment compatibility, wastewater and residual handling, evidence, exceptions, and clearance owner.

Sources: [3], [12]

Define the target population, spatial frame, primary unit, subsample, sample volume or area, visit, season, life stage, observable response, and result state. State whether the design supports pathway screening, occupancy evidence, delimitation, relative distribution, method comparison, or trend. A sample result alone does not estimate abundance, reproduction, establishment, or eradication.

Sources: [1], [6]

Preserve waterbody connections, launches, marinas, docks, bait and aquaculture pathways, outfalls, tributaries, currents, substrate, depth, temperature, chemistry, habitat, infrastructure, prior records, access, and sampling history. Record source versions and the rule that converted evidence into site strata. Risk maps prioritize effort; they do not prove invasion or justify declaring unsampled areas free of the taxon.

Sources: [3], [5], [10]

Predefine site and visit counts, timing windows, sample volume or area, gear effort, replicate and repeat-visit structure, quality-control allocation, and rules for inaccessible or invalid units. Where detection probability is estimated, preserve model, assumptions, covariates, uncertainty, and applicability. One season without detection does not demonstrate eradication or long-term control.

Sources: [1], [12]

Sources: [12], [8]

For each observation or substrate, retain exact location, depth, date, effort or exposure interval, material and surface, environmental context, photographs, scale, observer, provisional identification, confidence, voucher decision, custody, expert determination, and disposition. Old shells, fragments, attached organisms, and fresh living specimens are different evidence states.

Sources: [12], [5]

Follow the approved protocol for sample location, depth, water volume, mesh or concentration method, replicate, preservation, holding, custody, microscope preparation, analyst qualification, morphology, measurement, image, quality controls, second review, and result category. A suspected veliger or image is not an authority-confirmed species occurrence.

Sources: [12]

Use an approved design and trained, authorized teams for nets, traps, benthic gear, electrofishing, imaging, diving, or other capture. Retain gear, dimensions, settings, deployment, habitat, duration, catch, bycatch, injury or mortality, identification, disposition, failures, and effort. Never improvise retention, release, euthanasia, stocking, translocation, chemical use, or protected-species handling from this guide.

Sources: [1], [4], [5]

Freeze target, matrix, location, depth, volume, replicate, filtration or preservation, field and equipment blanks, positive controls where appropriate, clean workflow, equipment lot, storage, shipping, custody, holding, extraction, inhibition, amplification, assay, threshold, laboratory, and deviations. Separate field, laboratory, assay, and data-quality controls; do not silently delete a contamination event.

Sources: [8], [9], [12]

Retain sample and extract IDs, receipt and condition, chain of custody, laboratory and analyst, taxonomic keys or reference collections, assay target and version, primers and probes, specificity and sensitivity evidence, controls, replicate rules, inhibition assessment, sequence or confirmation where used, qualifiers, amendments, and reviewer. Method validation and taxonomic determination are distinct.

Sources: [9], [12]

Report the method-specific result, controls, quantification or threshold where applicable, qualifiers, contamination, inhibition, false-positive and false-negative pathways, sampled frame, effort, timing, and detection limits. An eDNA positive identifies target genetic material rather than a live organism or population. A non-detect means not detected under the stated design; it does not prove absence.

Sources: [8], [7]

Define who reviews suspect observations, specimens, morphology, microscopy, molecular results, conflicts, repeat sampling, independent confirmation, occurrence records, establishment evidence, and status. Keep report, detection, provisional identification, taxonomic confirmation, verified occurrence, establishment, regulatory status, response eligibility, response authorization, and public release separately dated and attributable.

Sources: [1], [2], [6]

Submit suitable records and eDNA datasets through current official channels with required metadata. Protect exact sensitive locations, private information, infrastructure, and response operations. Publish method, effort, result state, confidence, limitations, reviewer, date, and correction route. Revise future site allocation, timing, methods, and effort after reviewed evidence while preserving the original plan and deviations.

Sources: [5], [9], [1]