Abstract
Species of the family Lutjanidae constitute an important fishery resource in tropical marine areas worldwide and are intensely exploited because of their excellent commercial value and quality. In Colombia, the lane snapper Lutjanus synagris is considered vulnerable to overfishing due to its biological characteristics, habitat deterioration, and historical decrease in catch rates in regions where it used to comprise the highest percentage of the landings. In order to generate more biological information needed to make effective fishery management decisions and policies, the genetic structure of L. synagris was analyzed in three areas of the Colombian Caribbean (Santa Marta, Rosario Islands, and Capurganá) using microsatellite-type molecular markers. Fourteen primers reported for two phylogenetically close species (Rhomboplites aurorubens and Lutjanus campechanus) were analyzed, eight of which were polymorphic and informative for the species under study. All loci were found to depart from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium due to marked heterozygote deficiency in all the populations studied. Both the analysis of molecular variance (total population ΦST = 0.006, P = 0.022) and spatial analysis of molecular variance showed a slight statistically significant population structure (best FCT = 0.003, ΦST = 0.007, P = 0.0001) that separated the Capurganá population from those of the other areas with no evidence of isolation by distance (Mantel test Rxy = 0.023, P = 0.057). The results suggest that the life history of the species and the regional oceanographic conditions play an important role in determining the genetic structure and the existence of two different genetic stocks that should be managed according to their population structure.
Highlights
IntroducciónThe lane snapper Lutjanus synagris (Lutjanidae, L 1758) is a demersal, generalist carnivore, trophically opportunistic species, distributed throughout the Caribbean Sea from North Carolina (USA) to southeastern Brazil (Cervigón 1993)
This study aimed to generate information that will contribute to the knowledge and definition of management units and to a multidisciplinary approach in the design of fishery management plans for the species, by analyzing the diversity and genetic structure of L. synagris populations in the Colombian Caribbean using microsatellite sequences that have been reported for other species of the family Lutjanidae
This study evaluated the genetic diversity and population structure of L. synagris in several regions of the Colombian Caribbean by adapting eight microsatellite markers previously reported for phylogenetically close species
Summary
IntroducciónThe lane snapper Lutjanus synagris (Lutjanidae, L 1758) is a demersal, generalist carnivore, trophically opportunistic species, distributed throughout the Caribbean Sea from North Carolina (USA) to southeastern Brazil (Cervigón 1993). Several fishery and biological aspects indicate that L. synagris is vulnerable to overfishing in Colombia: (1) the biological characteristics of the species such as slow growth, late sexual maturity, and breeding (Coleman et al 2000, Luckhurst et al 2000, Claro et al 2001); (2) the heavy fishing pressure exerted by the artisanal and semi-industrial fleets (Mejía and Acero 2002, Manjarrés 2004); (3) the increased fishing effort in the Caribbean region due to technical and technological innovations in the artisanal fishery (Manjarrés 2004); (4) the historical decrease in lane snapper catch rates in both the artisanal (Correa and Manjarrés 2004) and industrial trawling fleets (Viaña et al 2004); (5) the deterioration of the coral reefs, lagoons, and marshes where this species recruits, develops, and lives (Mejía and Acero 2002); and (6) the reduced maturation time in areas subject to greater fishing intensity (Arteaga et al 2004). There are only two studies in which morphometric and meristic characters were used to identify two possible stocks in the Guajira and Santa Marta populations (Gómez 2002, Rodríguez 2004), but the panorama of other areas in the southern Caribbean is not yet known
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