Novel DNA-based Larval Quantification Assay for Olympia Oysters

Carolyn Friedman, School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences, University of Washington

R/F-158

Native Olympia oyster populations in Puget Sound have declined dramatically over the past century and are now a Washington state-listed species of concern.  Restoration projects to supplement and re-establish populations are hampered by limited knowledge of larval dispersal, partly because of  the cost and technical difficulty of identifying bivalve larvae. This project will validate and test a cost-effective and rapid species-specific DNA-based assay to simultaneously identify and quantify Olympia oyster larvae in seawater samples.