| Summary: | The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a widely distributed marine mammal, which inhabits all oceans of the world. The world population has been drastically reduced due to commercial whaling during the last two centuries. There is little information about the degree of genetic exchange between different populations of humpback whales in the Southern Hemisphere. This work is the second phase of a research, which aims to assess the genetic diversity and connectivity of humpback whales off the coast of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. A total of 22 tissue samples were obtained using a Paxarms Biopsy system. Mitochondrial DNA was extracted and sequenced to establish the genetic diversity of humpback whales off the coast of Esmeraldas during the 2012 season. A total of sixteen different haplotypes were identified. Of these haplotypes, four were new to Ecuador, three of them had been previously reported in other populations of the stock G (Colombia and Santa Elena), and the other corresponded to a new sequence which has not been previously reported in the Southeast Pacific population, but in the French Polynesia. Haplotype diversity (h±SD) was estimated to be of 0.9567 ± 0.0290 and the nucleotide diversity (π±SD) 0.0214 ± 0.0113, reflecting high genetic diversity among individuals inhabiting the coasts of Ecuador, compared to other populations in both breeding and feeding areas in the Southeast Pacific. La ballena jorobada (Megaptera novaeangliae) es un mamífero marino migratorio, que está distribuido en todos los océanos de mundo. Su población mundial se ha reducido drásticamente producto de la cacería comercial durante los dos últimos siglos. Se tiene poca información acerca del grado de intercambio existente entre las diferentes poblaciones de ballenas jorobadas en el Hemisferio Sur. Este trabajo es la segunda fase de una investigación, cuyo objetivo es evaluar la diversidad genética y conectividad de las ballenas jorobadas que visitan la costa de Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Un total de 22 muestras de piel de ballena se ...
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