Genetic diversity and connectivity of Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) found in the Brazil and Chile–Peru wintering grounds and the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur) feeding ground

• Published in: Journal of Heredity
• Main Authors: Carroll, Emma L., Ott, Paulo H., McMillan, Louise F., Vernazzani, Barbara Galletti, Neveceralova, Petra, Vermeulen, Els, Gaggiotti, Oscar E., Andriolo, Artur, Baker, C. Scott, Bamford, Connor, Best, Peter B., Cabrera, Elsa, Calderan, Susannah, Chirife, Andrea, Fewster, Rachel M., Flores, Paulo A.C., Frasier, Timothy, Freitas, Thales R.O., Groch, Karina, Hulva, Pavel, Kennedy, Amy S., Leaper, Russell, Leslie, Matthew S., Moore, Michael, Oliveira, Larissa, Seger, Jon, Stepien, Emilie N., Valenzuela, Luciano O., Zerbini, Alexandre, Jackson, Jennifer A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2020
• Subjects: Population structure; Connectivity; Migration; Gene flow; Phylogeography; Conservation genetics; Biodiversity; Genetic diversity; Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis); Brazil; Chile–Peru; Islas Georgias del Sur; Pacific; Argentina; Southern Right Whale
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77475; https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esaa010

We have deposited the primary data underlying these analyses as follows: Microsatellite data: genotypes of all samples used in analysis archived in genepop format at Dryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qrk8; DNA sequences: Mitochondrial DNA haplotype frequencies for each region and linked Genbank Accession numbers in Excel file, along with example Arlequin file, submitted to dryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qrk8. As species recover from exploitation, continued assessments of connectivity and population structure are warranted to provide information for conservation and management. This is particularly true in species with high dispersal capacity, such as migratory whales, where patterns of connectivity could change rapidly. Here we build on a previous long-term, large-scale collaboration on southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) to combine new (nnew) and published (npub) mitochondrial (mtDNA) and microsatellite genetic data from all major wintering grounds and, uniquely, the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur: SG) feeding grounds. Specifically, we include data from Argentina (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 208/46), Brazil (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 50/50), South Africa (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 66/77, npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 350/47), Chile–Peru (nnew mtDNA/ microsatellite = 1/1), the Indo-Pacific (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 769/126), and SG (npub mtDNA/ microsatellite = 8/0, nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 3/11) to investigate the position of previously unstudied habitats in the migratory network: Brazil, SG, and Chile–Peru. These new genetic data show connectivity between Brazil and Argentina, exemplified by weak genetic differentiation and the movement of 1 genetically identified individual between the South American grounds. The single sample from Chile–Peru had an mtDNA haplotype previously only observed in the Indo-Pacific and had a nuclear genotype that appeared admixed between the Indo-Pacific and South Atlantic, based on genetic clustering and assignment algorithms. The SG ...