Mitochondrial D-loop DNA analyses of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) reveals genetic isolation between Atlantic and East Mediterranean populations

• Main Authors: Gallagher, J, Finarelli, JA, Jonasson, JP, Carlsson, J
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2018
• Subjects: Norway; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4676303; https://zenodo.org/record/4676303

Nephrops norvegicus is a commercially valuable demersal fisheries species. Relatively little is understood about this species’ population dynamics across its distribution with previous mitochondrial and microsatellite studies failing to identify significant population-level differentiation. In this study, sequence variation in the mitochondrial (mtDNA) D-loop was analysed from samples across the distribution range, and compared with COI sequences for this species retrieved from GenBank. Analysis of a 375 bp fragment of the D-loop revealed significant genetic differentiation between samples from the North-east Atlantic and the east Mediterranean (FST = 0.107, P < 0.001). Tau (τ), theta (θ0 and θ1) and Fu’s FS values suggest the species spread between 10,500 to 19,000 ybp and subsequently expanded rapidly across the Atlantic.