Demographic processes underlying subtle patterns of population structure in the scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini.

ABSTRACT: Genetic diversity (θ), effective population size (N(e)), and contemporary levels of gene flow are important parameters to estimate for species of conservation concern, such as the globally endangered scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini. Therefore, we have reconstructed the demographic history of S. lewini across its Eastern Pacific (EP) range by applying classical and coalescent population genetic methods to a combination of 15 microsatellite loci and mtDNA control region sequences. In addition to significant population genetic structure and isolation-by-distance among seven coastal sites between central Mexico and Ecuador, the analyses revealed that all populations have experienced a bottleneck and that all current values of θ are at least an order of magnitude smaller than ancestr

SUBMITTER: Nance HA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3137562 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature