Conservation Genetics of Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) in U.S. Waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico and Western Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

Abstract Population structure of Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) in U.S. waters was assessed via analysis of allele and genotype distributions at 13 nuclear-encoded microsatellites and mitochondrial (mt)DNA haplotype distribution among samples from five localities in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and one locality on the Atlantic coast of Florida. Exact tests of homogeneity over all microsatellites were significant for both allele (P = 0.004) and genotype (P = 0.020) distributions; homogeneity tests for mtDNA haplotype distributions were not significant (P = 0.940). Weak but significant divergence (ΦCT = 0.007, P = 0.020) among localities (microsatellites) was indicated by spatial analysis of molecular variance (SAMOVA), where three distinct groups (one from the northwestern Gulf, one from the northcentral/northeastern Gulf, and one from the east coast of Florida) were inferred. Spatial autocorrelation analysis (microsatellites) revealed an isolation-by-distance effect among samples from the northern ...