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Multiple origins of vagrant Subantarctic fur seals: a long journey to the Brazilian coast detected by molecular markers

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Abstract

In this study, we present the first data about putative source populations of the vagrant Subantarctic fur seal, Arctocephalus tropicalis, found on the Brazilian coast, through the comparison of their mitochondrial DNA control sequences to exclusive haplotypes from the main breeding colonies of the species. The results indicated that, despite the majority of the vagrant individuals are from Gough Island (the closest breeding site to the Brazilian coast), they also come from other reproductive colonies, such as Crozet Island, a distance around 16,500 km from the Brazilian coast. Furthermore, the molecular data identified three possible management units: (1) Gough, (2) Amsterdam, and (3) Marion, Macquarie and Crozet. This significant genetic subdivision must be taken into account in any future management plan for the species conservation, including rehabilitation and even reintroduction of vagrant fur seals.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr Ronald Buss de Souza, Prof. Dr Paulo A. Otto for all helpful advice, Dr Denis Moledo de Souza Abessa for revising the manuscript, and Dr Simon Goldsworthy for some very valuable insights. We also wish to thank Ricardo Burgo Braga, who kindly prepared the Fig. 1, Daniel Danilewicz, Mauricio Tavares, Rodrigo Machado, Sue B. Nakashima, Cariane Campos Trigo, Fabiola Rezende, Renata Bornholdt, and Andrea Maranho for collaborating in the collection and necropsies of the specimens. We also thank Norma Luiza Würdig, Irajá Damiani Pinto, and William Rossiter for the constant support and encouragement. Thanks to the Project “Research and Conservation of Aquatic Mammals and Sea Turtles in the Rio Grande do Sul”—(“Pesquisa e Conservação de Mamíferos Marinhos e Tartarugas Marinhas no Litoral Norte do Rio Grande do Sul”) supported by Fundação O Boticário de Proteção à Natureza, MacArthur Foundation, Cetacean Society International, Yaqu Pacha Foundation and Fundo Nacional do Meio Ambiente – FNMA/MMA (Convenio 094/2001), which provided financial aid. Finally, we are also grateful to FAPESP (process no. 00/13213-2) and to CNPq (process no. 130514/2004-7) for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Biologia Evolutiva e Conservação de Vertebrados (LABEC), Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Rua do Matão, 277, Cidade Universitária, Butantã, 05508-900, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Juliana Machado Ferreira, Larissa Rosa de Oliveira, Nadia Moraes-Barros, Felipe Mello Martins & João Stenghel Morgante

  2. Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Aquáticos do Rio Grande Sul (GEMARS), Rua Felipe Neri 382/203, 90440-150, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Larissa Rosa de Oliveira, Ignacio B. Moreno & Paulo Henrique Ott

  3. Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (CECLIMAR-UFRGS), Av. Tramandaí 976, 95625-000, Imbe, RS, Brazil

    Larissa Rosa de Oliveira, Ignacio B. Moreno & Paulo Henrique Ott

  4. Bioscience North Australia, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia

    Louise Wynen

  5. Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Dierkunde Building, R2-26, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa

    Marthán N. Bester

  6. Centre d’etudes biologiques de Chizé CEBC-CNRS UPR 1934, Villiers-en-Bois, 79360, Beauvoir Sur Niort, France

    Christophe Guinet

  7. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, P.O. Box 379, 96200-970, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil

    Mônica M. C. Muelbert

  8. Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos (GEMM-Lagos)/ENSP/FIOCRUZ, Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, 1480 – Manguinhos, 21041-210, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Salvatore Siciliano

  9. Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (UERGS), Rua Aparício Brandino de Oliveira, 1115, 95595-000, Cidreira, RS, Brazil

    Paulo Henrique Ott

Authors
  1. Juliana Machado Ferreira
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  2. Larissa Rosa de Oliveira
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  3. Louise Wynen
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  4. Marthán N. Bester
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  5. Christophe Guinet
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  6. Nadia Moraes-Barros
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  7. Felipe Mello Martins
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  8. Mônica M. C. Muelbert
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  9. Ignacio B. Moreno
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  10. Salvatore Siciliano
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  11. Paulo Henrique Ott
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  12. João Stenghel Morgante
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to João Stenghel Morgante.

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Ferreira, J.M., de Oliveira, L.R., Wynen, L. et al. Multiple origins of vagrant Subantarctic fur seals: a long journey to the Brazilian coast detected by molecular markers. Polar Biol 31, 303–308 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0358-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0358-z

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