Population Genomic Analyses of the Sea Urchin Echinometra sp. EZ across an Extreme Environmental Gradient.

ABSTRACT: Extreme environmental gradients represent excellent study systems to better understand the variables that mediate patterns of genomic variation between populations. They also allow for more accurate predictions of how future environmental change might affect marine species. The Persian/Arabian Gulf is extreme in both temperature and salinity, whereas the adjacent Gulf of Oman has conditions more typical of tropical oceans. The sea urchin Echinometra sp. EZ inhabits both of these seas and plays a critical role in coral reef health as a grazer and bioeroder, but, to date, there have been no population genomic studies on this or any urchin species in this unique region. E sp. EZ's life history traits (e.g., large population sizes, large reproductive clutches, and long life spans), in theory,

SUBMITTER: Ketchum RN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7594579 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature