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Fine-scale genetic structure in short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) along the East Australian Current

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Abstract

Oceanographic processes play a significant role in shaping the genetic structure of marine populations, but it is less clear whether they affect genetic differentiation of highly mobile vertebrates. We used microsatellite markers and mtDNA control region sequences to investigate the spatial genetic structure of short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in southeastern Australia, a region characterised by complex oceanographic conditions associated with the East Australian Current (EAC). A total of 115 biopsy samples of dolphins were collected from six localities spanning approximately 1,000 km of the New South Wales (NSW) coastline. We found evidence for contrasting genetic diversity and fine-scale genetic structure, characterised by three genetically differentiated populations with varying levels of admixture. Spatial genetic structure was not explained by a model of isolation by distance, instead it coincides with main patterns of oceanographic variation along the EAC. We propose that common dolphins along the EAC may be adapted to three water masses recently characterised in this region.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the people that have provided logistical support for field efforts (Owen and Linda Griffiths, Alan and Libby Hepburn, Elizabeth Allen and Don Sinclair), contributed to the collection of samples (Robert Harcourt, Joanna Wiszniewski, Peter Tung and Heidi Ahonen), and assisted with laboratory and statistical analyses (Peter Teske, Sam Banks, Catherine Attard and Ana Amaral). Funding for this project was provided by Macquarie University. The research was carried out under scientific permit from the New South Wales Government Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, and approval from the Macquarie University Animal Ethics Committee. This contribution represents manuscript #36 of the Molecular Ecology Group for Marine Research (MEGMAR), a multi-institutional team initially supported by a Macquarie University Research Innovation Fund (grant MQ A006162).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Ecology Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, 5042, Australia

    Luciana Möller & Luciano B. Beheregaray

  2. Marine Mammal Research Group, Graduate School of the Environment, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Luciana Möller & Kerstin Bilgmann

  3. Molecular Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Fernanda Pedone Valdez, Shannon Corrigan & Luciano B. Beheregaray

  4. Murdoch University Cetacean Research Unit, Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research, School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, 6150, Australia

    Simon Allen

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  1. Luciana Möller
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  2. Fernanda Pedone Valdez
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  4. Kerstin Bilgmann
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  5. Shannon Corrigan
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Correspondence to Luciana Möller.

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Communicated by C. Riginos.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 5.

Table 5 List of mtDNA control region haplotypes of short-beaked common dolphins sampled in six localities in southeastern Australia (GenBank accession numbers HQ223451–HQ223479)
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Appendix 2

See Table 6.

Table 6 Number of alleles, observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosities, and Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium P values at microsatellite loci
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Möller, L., Valdez, F.P., Allen, S. et al. Fine-scale genetic structure in short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) along the East Australian Current. Mar Biol 158, 113–126 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-010-1546-x

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