Genomic analysis of red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, population structure in the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Abstract Red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, supports one of the more important fisheries in marine waters of the United States. Consequently, it has been the focus of intensive fisheries research for more than 20 years. Here, we present a genomic analysis of population structure that uses a landscape genetics approach to characterize patterns of variation in adult red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) alongside a synoptic view of decades of stock-structure research. The results support Atlantic and GOM stocks and indicate weak heterogeneity within the GOM. Furthermore, redundancy analysis using Moran Eigenvector Maps based on physical distance, larval dispersal probability, and adult dispersal probability reveal heterogeneity on various spatial scales, with adult movement explaining a larger component of variation than spatial position or larval dispersal. Results of this study support the idea that red snapper in the GOM display metapopulation structure, but also suggest a potential genetic discontinuity along the West Florida Shelf not previously described. The approach of using landscape genomics and dispersal data (larval and/or adult) to better understand metapopulation dynamics is promising for not only red snapper, but also for other marine species that occupy a diversity of habitats and are seemingly distributed continuously.