Gene pool and connectivity patterns of Pinna nobilis in the Balearic Islands (Spain, Western Mediterranean Sea): Implications for its conservation through restocking
Type
ArticleAuthors
González-Wangüemert, MercedesBasso, Lorena
Balau, Ana
Costa, Joana
Renault, Lionel
Serrão, Ester A.
Duarte, Carlos M.

Hendriks, Iris E.
KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionMarine Science Program
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
Date
2018-10-07Online Publication Date
2018-10-07Print Publication Date
2019-02Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/631600
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Pinna nobilis is an endemic bivalve of the Mediterranean Sea, and a vulnerable species registered as endangered and protected under the European Council Directive 92/43/EEC and Barcelona Convention. In early autumn 2016, a mass mortality event impacted P. nobilis populations in the south-western Mediterranean Sea, including the Balearic Islands. At the time of this study, P. nobilis still maintained high population densities along the Balearic coasts (Western Mediterranean). This study evaluated the connectivity of P. nobilis post-larvae and adults in seagrass habitats around the Balearic Islands and identified its source and sink populations. These objectives were reached through a multidisciplinary approach including population genetics (10 microsatellites) and hydrodynamic modelling. High genetic diversity was found and significant genetic differentiation (inferred by fixation index F) was detected between post-larvae samples, but not between adult populations. Significant genic and genotypic differentiation was recorded for adults and post-larvae. This pattern was confirmed by correspondence analysis using allele frequencies. The genetic connectivity pattern was consistent with marine currents and dispersal models. This work not only improves knowledge of the P. nobilis gene pool in south-west Mediterranean populations and their connectivity patterns, but is also crucial to help evaluate the possibility of recovery from source populations and the possibility of restocking programmes, as well as provide a solid base to establish effective marine reserve networks.Citation
González-Wangüemert M, Basso L, Balau A, Costa J, Renault L, et al. (2018) Gene pool and connectivity patterns of Pinna nobilis in the Balearic Islands (Spain, Western Mediterranean Sea): Implications for its conservation through restocking. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 29: 175–188. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2976.Sponsors
This research was partially funded by the Spanish National project EstresX (CTM2012-32603) and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) programme UID/Multi/04326/2013. L.B. was supported by a JAE pre-DOC fellowship and I.E.H. by a JAE-DOC fellowship (CSIC, Spain). MGW was supported by FCT Investigator Programme-Career Development (IF/00998/2014).Publisher
WileyDOI
10.1002/aqc.2976Additional Links
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.2976ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/aqc.2976