Volume 55
Use of Single-stranded Conformational Polymorphisms (SSCP) to Detect Species Relationship and Population Structure in the Atlantic Sharpnose shark (Rhisoprionodon terraenovae) and the Caribbean Sharpnose Shark (R. porosus)
Authors
Todd, T.; Waldbeser, L.S.; Ward, R. Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: 2004
Pages: 294-305
Event: Proceedings of the Fifty Fifth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Xel Ha
Country: Mexico
Abstract
The Atlantic sharpnose shark, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae, and the Caribbean sharpnose shark, R. porosus, are small coastal-tempemte and tropical sharks of the continental shelves that overlap in distribution along the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and around the Yucatan Peninsula to the Caribbean Sea. In order to properly distinguish between the two species, current methods require counting caudal and precaudal vertebrate. These species used to be highly abundant within their prospective ranges, but current fishery pressures have caused declines in landing. Assessment of population size and structure is necessary to determine future management plans for this species. Use of SSCP is a viable method to differentiate between the two species and to measure population structure. SSCP analysis was able to detect 11 unique haplotypes in the Atlantic sharpnose shark and 3 haplotypes in the Caribbean sharpnose. Sequencing confumed the variation between the species with an estimated nucleotide divergence as high as 1.08%.