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Is the Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) a reef fish or a pelagic fish? The phylogeographic perspective

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Abstract

Current taxonomy indicates a single global species of the Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) despite differences in color and behavior between Atlantic and Pacific forms. To investigate these differences and qualify the dispersal characteristics of this unique coastal–pelagic teleost (bony fish), we conducted a global phylogeographic survey of 246 specimens from thirteen sampling locations using a 629-base pair fragment of mtDNA cytochrome b. Data indicate high overall gene flow in the Indo-Pacific over large distances (>16,500 km) bridging several biogeographic barriers. The West Atlantic population contains an mtDNA lineage that is divergent from the Indo-Pacific (d = 1.9%), while the East Atlantic (N = 23) has two mutations (d = 0.6%) apart from the Indo-Pacific. While we cannot rule out distinct evolutionary partitions among ocean basins based on behavior, coloration, and near-monophyly between Atlantic and Indo-Pacific subpopulations, more investigation is required before taxonomic status is revised. Overall, the pattern of high global dispersal and connectivity in S. barracuda more closely resembles those reported for large oceanic predators than reef-associated teleosts.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Jeff Eble, Greg Concepcion, Marc Crepeau, Paul Marek, and Rob Toonen for laboratory support and help with genetic analyses. For help with sample collection, we thank Kim Holland, Dean Grubbs, Robert Kikuta, Paul Bienfang, Benedicta Oben, David Itano, Michelle Gaither, Mindy Mizobe, Lori O’Hara, Zoltan Szabo, Luiz Rocha, Matt Craig, Ross Newton and Tracey Rushford of Reel Teaser Charters in Western Australia, Anne Gasc of EnCoRe inc, David Rowat and the Marine Conservation Society of the Seychelles, Mike Trevor, Lenore Litherland, Monica Mwale, Ross Robertson, Ben Victor, Ross Langston, Barry Alty, Junior Sasis, Samuel Gruber, Charles Sheppard, Bill Signs, Craig Henn, Jimmy Bijoux, Tom Vely, Jon Puritz, Tristan Guttridge, Johann Mourier, John Coffey, Carl Meyer, Yannis Papastamatiou, Nick Whitney, R. Newton, Jeff Johnson, R. Charles Anderson, J. Beets, Hannelore Waska, Emily Marcus, Sean Williams, Bill Signs, the Guam Fisherman’s Cooperative Association, British Indian Ocean Territory Administration, and the Toonen, Bowen, and Holland Labs at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. Funding came from the Graduate Student Organization at the University of Hawaii, National Science Foundation (OCE-0453167, OCE-0623678, and OCE-0929031 to B.W.B. and R.J. Toonen, and EPSCoR EPS-0554657 to University of Hawaii). We thank Sarah Daley, Rajesh Shrestha, and Mindy Mizobe and the HIMB EPSCoR core facility for assistance with DNA sequencing. The lead author is supported by grant No. 2 K12 GM000708 to the PERT Program at the University of Arizona from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences division of NIH. This is contribution #1454 from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and contribution #8211 from the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii.

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  1. Toby S. Daly-Engel

    Present address: University of Arizona, Forbes 410, 1140 E. South Campus Dr., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Toby S. Daly-Engel

  2. Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI, 96817-2704, USA

    John E. Randall

  3. Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii, Kaneohe, HI, 96744, USA

    Brian W. Bowen

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  1. Toby S. Daly-Engel
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Correspondence to Toby S. Daly-Engel.

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Communicated by M. I. Taylor.

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Daly-Engel, T.S., Randall, J.E. & Bowen, B.W. Is the Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) a reef fish or a pelagic fish? The phylogeographic perspective. Mar Biol 159, 975–985 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1878-9

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