Blacktip reef sharks, Carcharhinus melanopterus, have high genetic structure and varying demographic histories in their Indo-Pacific range
Type
ArticleAuthors
Vignaud, Thomas M.Mourier, Johann
Maynard, Jeffrey Allen
Leblois, Raphaël
Spaet, Julia L.Y.

Clua, Éric
Neglia, Valentina
Planes, Serge
KAUST Department
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)Marine Science Program
Date
2014-10-13Online Publication Date
2014-10-13Print Publication Date
2014-11Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/563797
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
For free-swimming marine species like sharks, only population genetics and demographic history analyses can be used to assess population health/status as baseline population numbers are usually unknown. We investigated the population genetics of blacktip reef sharks, Carcharhinus melanopterus; one of the most abundant reef-associated sharks and the apex predator of many shallow water reefs of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Our sampling includes 4 widely separated locations in the Indo-Pacific and 11 islands in French Polynesia with different levels of coastal development. Four-teen microsatellite loci were analysed for samples from all locations and two mitochondrial DNA fragments, the control region and cytochrome b, were examined for 10 locations. For microsatellites, genetic diversity is higher for the locations in the large open systems of the Red Sea and Australia than for the fragmented habitat of the smaller islands of French Polynesia. Strong significant structure was found for distant locations with FST values as high as ∼0.3, and a smaller but still significant structure is found within French Polynesia. Both mitochondrial genes show only a few mutations across the sequences with a dominant shared haplotype in French Polynesia and New Caledonia suggesting a common lineage different to that of East Australia. Demographic history analyses indicate population expansions in the Red Sea and Australia that may coincide with sea level changes after climatic events. Expansions and flat signals are indicated for French Polynesia as well as a significant recent bottleneck for Moorea, the most human-impacted lagoon of the locations in French Polynesia.Sponsors
All of the following provided funding for the research presented here (no particular order after the first organization): Labex CORAIL, Ministere de l'Ecologie du Developpement Durable et de l'Energie, Ministere de l'Outre Mer, Fonds Pacifique, IFRECOR, Delegation a la recherche de Polynesie, the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Institut National de Recherche en Agronomie and a Marie Curie Actions Fellowship. We also thank Andrew Chin, Jennifer Ovenden, Mark Meekan and Conrad Speed, Mael Imirizaldu, David Lecchini, Patrick Plantard, Jonathan Werry and several students for providing samples or for assistance with sampling. Part of the MIGRAINE work was undertaken using the resources of the INRA MIGALE and GENOTOUL bioinformatics platform and the computing grids of ISEM and CBGP laboratories. K. Keenan assisted with the application of diveRsity to our data in R and D. Tracey assisted with developing final figures.Publisher
WileyJournal
Molecular EcologyPubMed ID
25251515ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1111/mec.12936
Scopus Count
Related articles
- Direct genetic evidence for reproductive philopatry and associated fine-scale migrations in female blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) in French Polynesia.
- Authors: Mourier J, Planes S
- Issue date: 2013 Jan
- Microsatellite analyses of blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) in a fragmented environment show structured clusters.
- Authors: Vignaud T, Clua E, Mourier J, Maynard J, Planes S
- Issue date: 2013
- Genetic structure of populations of whale sharks among ocean basins and evidence for their historic rise and recent decline.
- Authors: Vignaud TM, Maynard JA, Leblois R, Meekan MG, Vázquez-Juárez R, Ramírez-Macías D, Pierce SJ, Rowat D, Berumen ML, Beeravolu C, Baksay S, Planes S
- Issue date: 2014 May
- Worldwide phylogeography of the blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) inferred from mitochondrial DNA reveals isolation of western Atlantic populations coupled with recent Pacific dispersal.
- Authors: Keeney DB, Heist EJ
- Issue date: 2006 Oct
- Species co-occurrence affects the trophic interactions of two juvenile reef shark species in tropical lagoon nurseries in Moorea (French Polynesia).
- Authors: Matich P, Kiszka JJ, Mourier J, Planes S, Heithaus MR
- Issue date: 2017 Jun