Fisheries Research Articles

Local genetic patchiness but no regional differences between Indo-West Pacific populations of the dogtooth tuna Gymnosarda unicolor

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-23-2014

Journal Title

Marine Ecology Progress Series (MEPS)

ISSN

Print: 0171-8630 Electronic: 1616-1599

Keywords

Gymnosarda unicolor, Spatial genetic structure, Microsatellites, mtDNA, Ephemeral genetic patchiness

Disciplines

Aquaculture and Fisheries | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Environmental Monitoring | Genetics | Genomics | Marine Biology | Natural Resources and Conservation | Natural Resources Management and Policy

Abstract

Physical barriers can have profound impacts on dispersal in marine species. Here, we investigate population structure and levels of relatedness among individuals of the coral reef associated fish, the dogtooth tuna Gymnosarda unicolor, collected from 15 sites across the Indo-West Pacific region. We screened 92 individuals for genetic variation at 13 nuclear microsatellite loci and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene. We detected no genetic differentiation between ocean basins or between sites within ocean basins, suggesting G. unicolor possesses a highly mobile larval or juvenile stage. In addition, the lack of deep evolutionary mtDNA divergences suggests gene flow was also not limited historically. However, comparisons of relatedness between pairs of individuals revealed that individuals collected from the same site were more related to each other, on average, than individuals collected from different sites. Such patterns are consistent with chaotic genetic patchiness, a possible consequence of high variance in reproductive success and patchy, local recruitment.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10819