eDNA has been used for many species across the country during the past few years. In Idaho, it’s been used to document locations of Bull Trout and Brook Trout, but this time IDFG was interested in using eDNA to detect a couple of our harder to find and lesser known species, the Green Sucker and Northern Leatherside Chub. Both these species are found in Southeast Idaho but because they are not present or abundant in many of these drainages, we’ve had a hard time learning much about where they do and don’t live in these drainages. Another complicating factor is that these fish look similar to some of our other non-game native fishes, so it can be hard to identify them just based on their looks alone. eDNA helps improve our ability to identify species that look very similar and provides a quick and effective method for detecting rare species when traditional sampling tools have limitations. We can sample hundreds of miles of stream in a matter of weeks with eDNA, where it would have taken years with traditional methods.