Genetic connectivity of a coral reef ecosystem predator: the population genetic structure and evolutionary history of the Caribbean reef shark ( Carcharhinus perezi )

• Published in: Journal of Biogeography
• Main Authors: Bernard, Andrea M., Horn, Rebekah L., Chapman, Demian D., Feldheim, Kevin A., Garla, Ricardo C., Brooks, Edd J., Gore, Mauvis A., Shivji, Mahmood S.
• Other Authors: Save Our Seas Foundation, Cape Eleuthera Foundation, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, PADI Foundation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2017
• Subjects: Ecology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13062; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fjbi.13062; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jbi.13062

Abstract Aim The Caribbean reef shark ( Carcharhinus perezi ) is one of few extant reef sharks inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean. Its variability in movements across habitat types suggests the possibility of a complex genetic population structure. Here, we use mitochondrial and nuclear DNA to investigate the genetic connectivity of the Caribbean reef shark across contemporary and evolutionary time‐scales and relate our findings to the ecology of this understudied species. Location Tropical western Atlantic and Caribbean. Methods Samples were obtained from 216 individuals from six western Atlantic and Caribbean locations. Individuals were genotyped at seven nuclear microsatellite DNA loci and sequenced at two mitochondrial (control region [ CR ]; NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 [ ND 4]) and one nuclear locus (lactate dehydrogenase [ LDH ]). Analyses to resolve the population genetic structure and evolutionary history of this species were adopted. Results Sequencing of the CR (1,068 bp, n = 216), ND 4 (741 bp, n = 213) and LDH (258 bp, n = 165) loci, resolved 11, 8 and 13 unique haplotypes (or alleles), respectively. Overall, Caribbean reef sharks showed low levels of genetic diversity and most marker sets identified strong genetic differences ( F ST and Φ ST ) between sharks sampled in Brazil versus all other locations (msat F ST > 0.017; CR ‐ ND 4 Φ ST > 0.013). Mitochondrial DNA showed evidence of increased genetic partitioning among western North Atlantic sampling sites, although widespread haplotype sharing (~85%–92%) and a shallow population history were found. Main Conclusions Findings of genetic differentiation are concordant with previous movement studies showing residency and/or site‐fidelity to specific locations by individuals. However, similar to other reef shark studies, we found that the level of genetic connectivity among populations was context dependent—i.e., sharks occupying isolated habitats showed greater genetic differentiation compared with those sharks occupying semi‐isolated or continuous ...