Abstract

We assessed the current status of conch populations in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve (SCMR) in spring and summer 2006 and 2007. We collected data on density and age (size) structure of conch aggregations inside and outside the reserve in shallow water (< 3m; n = 10) and deep water (>15 m; n = 2). We also tagged conch from each aggregation to determine dispersal/migration patterns. Aggregation density was among the highest reported. Shallow-water aggregations were found in seagrass meadows and are nursery aggregations. Deep-water aggregations were found in sand and sand/ seagrass habitats and are adult feeding/spawning aggregations. Preliminary analysis of tagging data suggests that juveniles migrate seasonally between shallow (spring-summer) and deep (fall-winter) sites while adult conch from deep-water aggregations are sedentary. Thus, the SCMR contains both shallow-water nursery aggregations and deep-water adult aggregations, which may act as breeding refugia. To assess genetic connectivity among populations, DNA was sampled from three locations in Belize (SCMR, Port Honduras Marine Reserve and Turneffe Atoll) and one location in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). We have preliminary data on a 422 bp section of the CO1 locus. Estimates of q are high and average pairwise divergence among pairs of the Belize populations and the TCI population ranged from 0.00456 to 0.00592. Fst values among pairs of Belize populations were low. Therefore, at this time, but with limited data, our sampling has not found spatial or temporal population structure within Belize.

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