Abstract
Comparative population genetics and evolutionary history of two commonly misidentified billfishes of management and conservation concern
Highlights
Misidentifications between exploited species may lead to inaccuracies in population assessments, with potentially irreversible conservation ramifications if overexploitation of either species is occurring
Population genetic structure of roundscale spearfish: population-level analyses The genotypes of 198 roundscale spearfish were determined at 13 microsatellite loci
Roundscale spearfish population structure We provide the first examination of the genetic population structure of the roundscale spearfish, a large, pelagic predator captured in international fisheries and whose existence has only recently been recognized
Summary
Misidentifications between exploited species may lead to inaccuracies in population assessments, with potentially irreversible conservation ramifications if overexploitation of either species is occurring. Identifying genetic conservation units of large-bodied, marine pelagic fishes remains challenging as a result of their often large population sizes, typically strong dispersal ability (via adult and/or larval phases) and few apparent physical barriers to gene flow. These parameters are generally associated with shallow levels of genetic differentiation across large geographic regions [1,2,3]. ? 2014 Bernard et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd Istiophorid (Istiphoridae) billfish species fall in this category, and in several cases are known to have declined to levels low enough to cause international concern about their population status [7,8,9,10]
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