Volume 59
Genetic Analysis of Blue Marlin (Makaira nigricans) Stock Structure in the Atlantic Ocean
Authors
Mcdowell, J.R., Carlsson, J.E.L., Graves, J.E. Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2006
Pages: 614
Event: Proceedings of the Fifty Nine Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Belize City
Country: Belize
Abstract
The genetic basis of stock structure of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans Lacepède 1802 ) in the Atlantic Ocean was inferred from analyses of mitochondrial control region sequences. Blue marlin were collected from 4 major geographic locations: western North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, western South Atlantic and eastern Atlantic. Haplotype diversity (h) ranged from 0.99–1.0 and nucleotide sequence diversity (p) ranged from 0.11–0.13 within samples indicating that the control region harbors a significant amount of genetic variation. However, no significant differences were found in the spatial partitioning of genetic variation among the 4 collections; all pairwise ?ST values were negative and were therefore all taken as estimates around a true value of 0. As with previous studies of blue marlin, sequences were comprised of 2 distinct mitochondrial lineages separated by a mean of 138 base pairs and ?ST between clades of 0.799 (P < 0.0001). These 2 lineages were present in similar frequencies across sampling locations