Temporal stability and spatial divergence of mitochondrial DNA haplotype frequencies in red drum ( Sciaenops ocellatus ) from coastal regions of the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico

Variation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was examined among 693 red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), 300 black drum (Pogonias cromis), and 421 red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) sampled from several localities in the Gulf of Mexico. The number of mtDNA genotypes (haplotypes) observed were: 99 in red drum, 37 in black drum, and 68 in red snapper. Variation in mtDNA haplotype frequencies among localities in all three species was not significant, although two mtDNA haplotypes in black drum appeared to be clinally distributed. Maximum-parsimony analysis and phenetic clustering of mtDNA haplotypes and of samples in each species revealed little evidence of phylogeographic structuring. These data indicate that gene flow among localities in each species is sufficient to preclude genetic divergence. Spatial autocorrelation analysis of mtDNA haplotype frequencies revealed an isolation-by-distance effect in red drum and black drum, and indicated that migration between neighboring estuaries or bays in black drum may be less frequent than in red drum. Spatial autocorrelations in red snapper were negative in all distance classes, suggesting little migration even between adjacent localities. Differences in intrapopulational mtDNA diversities were found in all three species, suggesting that geographic differences in effective female population size may occur within each species.

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Microsatellite variation suggests substantial gene flow between king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) in the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico

Fisheries Research ◽

10.1016/s0165-7836(01)00275-2 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 54 (3) ◽

pp. 305-316 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Richard E Broughton ◽

Leah B Stewart ◽

John R Gold

Keyword(s):

Gene Flow ◽

Atlantic Ocean ◽

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Microsatellite Variation ◽

Western Atlantic ◽

Western Atlantic Ocean ◽

King Mackerel

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Stock Structure and Effective Size of Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and Implications Relative to Stock Enhancement and Recruitment

Stock Enhancement and Sea Ranching ◽

10.1002/9780470751329.ch26 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 353-370 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

John R. Gold

Keyword(s):

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Stock Enhancement ◽

Red Drum ◽

Sciaenops Ocellatus ◽

Effective Size ◽

Stock Structure ◽

Northern Gulf Of Mexico

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Age and growth of the great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran, in the north-western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf09227 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 61 (9) ◽

pp. 992 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Andrew N. Piercy ◽

John K. Carlson ◽

Michelle S. Passerotti

Keyword(s):

Atlantic Ocean ◽

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Biological Data ◽

Age And Growth ◽

Von Bertalanffy ◽

Western Atlantic ◽

K Value ◽

Hammerhead Shark ◽

Western Atlantic Ocean ◽

North Western

The great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran, is a cosmopolitan species that is caught in a variety of fisheries throughout much of its range. The apparent decline of great hammerhead shark populations has reinforced the need for accurate biological data to enhance fishery management plans. To this end, age and growth estimates for the great hammerhead were determined from sharks (n = 216) ranging in size from 54- to 315-cm fork length (FL), captured in the Gulf of Mexico and north-western Atlantic Ocean. Growth curves were fitted using multiple models and evaluated using Akaike’s information criterion. The von Bertalanffy growth model was the best fitting model, with resulting growth parameters of L∞ = 264.2-cm FL, k = 0.16 year–1, t0 = –1.99 year for males, and L∞ = 307.8-cm FL, k = 0.11 year–1, t0 = –2.86 year for females. Annual band pair deposition was confirmed through marginal-increment analysis and a concurrent bomb radiocarbon validation study. Great hammerheads have one of the oldest reported ages for any elasmobranch (44 years) but grow at relatively similar rates (on the basis of von Bertalanffy k value) to other large hammerhead species from this region. The present study is the first to provide vertebral ages for great hammerheads.

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A new species of the remarkable brittle star genus Astrophiura (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the western Atlantic Ocean

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4378.2.4 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4378 (2) ◽

pp. 257 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

DAVID L. PAWSON

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Atlantic Ocean ◽

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Dorsal Surface ◽

Western Atlantic ◽

Disc Diameter ◽

Southern Caribbean ◽

Bright Orange ◽

A New Species

Astrophiura caroleae, new species, is described from off Curacao in the southern Caribbean, and from the western Gulf of Mexico, in depths of 244 to 434 meters. This new species, the first in the genus Astrophiura to be described from the Atlantic Ocean, has a distinctive combination of characters, including regularly arranged primary plates, large radial shields whose radial edges are in contact for their entire visible length, and prominent tubercles on central and radial plates. The mottled reddish coloration of the dorsal surface of this species usually contrasts with the color of the substratum, rendering it readily visible in situ, despite its disc diameter of less than 10 mm. Like its congeners, A. caroleae is gonochoric, the gonads of females containing conspicuous masses of bright orange eggs that are approximately 165 µm in diameter. DNA Barcoding data are provided for this new species, these are the first for Astrophiura.

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