Abstract
Population connectivity in the blue crab Callinectes sapidus was evaluated along 740 km of the Western South Atlantic coast. Blue crabs are the most exploited portunid in Brazil. Despite their economic importance, few studies report their ecology or population structure. Here we sampled four estuarine areas in southern Brazil during winter 2013 and summer 2014 in order to evaluate diversity, gene flow and structure of these populations. Nine microsatellite markers were evaluated for 213 adult crabs, with identification of seven polymorphic loci and 183 alleles. Pairwise FST values indicated low population structure ranging from -0.00023 to 0.01755. A Mantel test revealed that the geographic distance does not influence genetic (r = -0.48), and structure/migration rates confirmed this, showing that even the populations located at the opposite extremities of our covered region presented low FST and exchanged migrants. These findings show that there is a significant amount of gene flow between blue crab populations in South Brazil, likely influenced by local current dynamics that allow the transport of a high number of larvae between estuaries. Considering the elevated gene flow, the populations can be considered a single genetic stock. However, further information on population size and dynamics, as well as fishery demands and impacts at different regions, are necessary for harvest management purposes.
Highlights
Understanding the population structure of commercially valuable species is extremely important for identifying stocks, defining fishing boundaries, and managing exploitation of fishery resources [1,2]
Adult blue crabs were sampled along 740 km of the cost of Santa Catarina (SC) and Rio Grande do Sul (RS) states, in South Brazil, at four areas: Itajaí and Laguna (SC), Tramandaí and Lagoa dos Patos (RS) (Fig 1)
Loci CSC-074 and CSA-092 were monomorphic in all locations, and were excluded from all analyses
Summary
Understanding the population structure of commercially valuable species is extremely important for identifying stocks, defining fishing boundaries, and managing exploitation of fishery resources [1,2]. The definition of limits for fisheries requires reliable information on gene flow and the number of migrants exchanged between different areas, since populations affected by natural or human pressures may or may not be reestablished by individuals from neighboring populations [2,3].
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