DIVE-Sea project

1. Specimen collection

Where are collections carried out?

In the French Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), particularly at marine stations and coastal sites selected for their biodiversity, geographic location, and logistical feasibility.

French National Inventory of Natural Heritage (INPN) lists nearly 12,000 marine species along the coasts of mainland France.

In addition, due to the rich biodiversity of the French overseas territories, DIVE-Sea also conducts sampling in representative biotopes such as coral reefs and mangroves in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Western and South Pacific.

Which marine species are targeted?

Macroalgae, marine plants, and invertebrates (e.g., mollusks, crustaceans, annelids, cnidarians, ascidians, sponges, etc.).

Fish (both cartilaginous and bony fishes – chondrichthyans and actinopterygians) are collected during fishing surveys (Ifremer has recorded ~1,200 species, including 900 benthic and pelagic ones, in the French EEZ).

Heterotrophic microalgae and protists are mainly collected through marine station culture collections, notably the Roscoff Culture Collection, the world’s largest and most diverse public repository of marine microorganisms.

What are the collection methods?

Marine biodiversity includes a vast range of microorganisms. To account for this diversity, ATLASea employs specialized collection protocols:

On the shoreline: visual sampling in the intertidal zone.

By divers: sampling of benthic species down to ~80 meters, using methods such as visual picking, underwater suction for soft bottoms, and scraping for hard substrates.

At sea: collection of pelagic, demersal, and benthic species from boats using nets, dredges, and sediment samplers.

The data from each sample (date, time, location, depth, habitat, etc.) is recorded and linked to the specimens.

Collected specimens are then transported to sorting stations (marine labs or field stations), where they are sieved, sorted, and identified before being sampled.

Some collections are carried out by “ambassador” scientists, experts in specific taxa.

2. Identification 

Marine species are identified by professional and amateur taxonomists, both French and international.

Triage workshops and thematic training schools will be organized to foster the transfer of taxonomic expertise for the identification of specific groups.

3. Sampling

If a specimen has not already been sequenced by another consortium, it is sampled following this standardized procedure: anesthesia, euthanasia, photography, cleaning, dissection, sample tubing, assignment of a unique identifier, database registration, flash freezing in liquid nitrogen for DNA preservation, storage in ultra-cold freezers.

After each collection mission, the samples are transported in dry ice to Genoscope for the second stage of the program: : SEQ-Sea.

4. Add to collection

After tissue samples have been taken for sequencing, the reference specimens are added to the natural history collections of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle.

They are preserved in alcohol, dried, or cryopreserved, computerized, digitized, and made available to researchers.