Abstract
AbstractThe black sea bass Centropristis striata is a commercially important perciform fish with a general distribution along the U.S. Atlantic coast from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and in the Gulf of Mexico from Mobile Bay, Alabama, to Tampa Bay, Florida. Currently, black sea bass are managed as three separate stocks: one in the Gulf of Mexico and two along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Fish from the Gulf of Mexico represent a separate subspecies, C. striata melana. The Atlantic subspecies, C. striata striata, is divided into two management units (separated at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina) based on the hypothesis that this subspecies comprises two distinct populations exhibiting life history and morphometric differences. To further investigate this differentiation, we employed mitochondrial sequence data to test whether genetic differences are observed among the three managements units. The DNA sequence analysis revealed a significant amount of genetic variability partitioned among samples from the three management areas. Similar results were observed when the analyses were confined to the two Atlantic coast management units. These results support the designation of two distinct management units for black sea bass along the U.S. Atlantic coast.Received July 19, 2011; accepted February 17, 2012
Highlights
Grice Marine Laboratory, College of Charleston, 205 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29412-9110, USA; and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research at Charleston, 219 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29412-9110, USA
Atlantic management units are split between the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB; Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Cape Cod, Massachusetts) and the South Atlantic Bight (SAB; Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Cape Hatteras), with Cape Hatteras serving as the boundary between Atlantic stocks (Mercer 1978)
While genetic studies have been successful in documenting the differentiation between Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast conspecifics, their ability to support the differences in black sea bass north and south of Cape Hatteras has been less convincing (Bowen and Avise 1990; Chapman et al 1999)
Summary
Grice Marine Laboratory, College of Charleston, 205 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29412-9110, USA; and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research at Charleston, 219 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29412-9110, USA. Atlantic management units are split between the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB; Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Cape Cod, Massachusetts) and the South Atlantic Bight (SAB; Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Cape Hatteras), with Cape Hatteras serving as the boundary between Atlantic stocks (Mercer 1978) This designation is supported by life history and morphometric studies and is based on differences in seasonal migrations, growth and maturity, and spawning times (Kendall 1972; Musick and Mercer 1977; Mercer 1978; Wenner et al 1986; O’Brien et al 1993; Collins et al 1996; Steimle et al 1999; McGovern et al 2002). Estimates of connectivity and exchange between northern and southern stocks are of particular importance and are critical for effective management
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