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Evidence for restricted gene flow over small spatial scales in a marine snapping shrimp Alpheus angulosus

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Abstract

Despite the apparent absence of geographic barriers, connectivity among marine populations may be restricted by, for example, ecological or behavioral mechanisms. In such cases, populations may show genetic differentiation even over relatively small spatial scales. Here, mitochondrial sequence data from the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene and seven polymorphic microsatellite markers were used to investigate fine geographic scale population genetic structure in the snapping shrimp Alpheus angulosus, a member of the A. armillatus species complex, from collections in Florida, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico carried out from 1999 to 2005. The COI data showed a deep divergence that separated these samples into two mitochondrial clades, but this divergence was not supported by the microsatellite data. The COI data reflect past population divergence not reflected in extant population structure on the whole genome level. The microsatellite data also revealed evidence for moderate population structure between populations as close as ∼10 km, and no evidence for isolation by distance, as divergences between near populations were at least as strong as those between more broadly separated populations. Overall, these data suggest a role for restricted gene flow between populations, though the mechanisms that reduce gene flow in this taxon remain unknown.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the Tropical Research Laboratory, the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory, and the Bermuda Biological Station for Research for logistic support, and to the government of Bermuda (permit no. SP050601) and to the National Environment and Planning Agency of Jamaica for granting me permission to collect and export snapping shrimp. I thank L. Houle and W. Durgin for technical assistance in the laboratory.

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  1. Department of Biology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA

    Lauren M. Mathews

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Correspondence to Lauren M. Mathews.

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Communicated by J. P. Grassle.

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Mathews, L.M. Evidence for restricted gene flow over small spatial scales in a marine snapping shrimp Alpheus angulosus . Mar Biol 152, 645–655 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0718-9

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