Genetic diversity monitoring of Fenneropenaeus chinensis in the Bohai Sea in the past decade: A study on the effect of release on the natural population

Abstract

Fenneropenaeus chinensis is an important species in both aquaculture and fishery activities. Its natural stock has primarily relied on artificial propagation and release in recent decades. In this study, captured populations of F. chinensis in the Bohai Sea were genotyped by microsatellite markers over seven years between 2012–2021. Genotype data were used to investigate genetic differentiation among geographic populations in the Bohai Sea and to further compare genetic diversity across different years. The purpose was to provide direct evidence for the impacts of artificial propagation and release on the natural population in the past decade and to reveal the survival status of F. chinensis. The fixation index (Fst) among six geographic populations ranged from 0.000–0.012, with no or very little genetic differentiation. The genetic diversity parameters, including allele number (Na), effective allele number (Ne), and observed heterozygosity (Ho), fluctuated irregularly over the years, and all expected heterozygosity (He) remained stable. There was no significant increase or decrease in the genetic diversity of F. chinensis in the Bohai Sea in the past decade. Fst among populations from different years (0.001–0.013) were larger than those among different geographic populations but still at a very low level, indicating that the genetic composition of F. chinensis in the Bohai Sea maintained fairly high stability. The results in the current study showed that the genetic diversity and genetic composition of F. chinensis in the Bohai Sea were not significantly changed by release practices.