| Summary: | The genetic diversity and connectivity of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off the coast of Esmeraldas, Ecuador is analyzed. A total of 35 samples of skin tissue were collected using a biopsy darting method during the 2010 and 2011 breeding seasons. DNA was extracted following a modified CTAB protocol. A variable section of the mitochondrial DNA control region was amplified by means of the Polimerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The PCR products were sequenced and a total of sixteen different haplotypes were determined. One of the identified haplotypes corresponded to a new unreported sequence and another one has not been reported in the Southeast Pacific but in Western Australia, New Caledonia and French Polynesia. The remaining 14 sequences were matched to previously reported haplotypes in the Southern Hemisphere and some showed a high identity level with sequences from Alaska, the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Haplotype diversity (h±SD) was estimated to be 1.0000 ± 0.0068 and the nucleotide diversity (π±SD) 0.020931 ± 0.010994, which reflected high genetic diversity in the Ecuadorian population of humpback whales. The Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) showed no significant differences with the populations of humpback whales of Santa Elena-Ecuador, Colombia, and the Antarctic Peninsula but significant differentiation was found between whales of Esmeraldas in the two years of the surveys and between whales of Esmeraldas and the Magellan Strait in terms of haplotype frequencies and nucleotide composition. The phylogenetic reconstruction grouped the 35 haplotypes in three of the four clades present in the Southern Hemisphere. The results of this study will make possible the understanding of connectivity of humpback whales that visit the coastal area of Ecuador with those from Galápagos and other ocean basins. Se presenta información sobre la diversidad genética y la conectividad de las ballenas jorobadas (Megaptera novaeangliae) que visitan la costa de Esmeraldas, Ecuador durante la época ...
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