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Comparative population genetics of seven notothenioid fish species reveals high levels of gene flow along ocean currents in the southern Scotia Arc, Antarctica

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Abstract

The Antarctic fish fauna is characterized by high endemism and low species diversity with one perciform suborder, the Notothenioidei, dominating the whole species assemblage on the shelves and slopes. Notothenioids diversified in situ through adaptive radiation and show a variety of life history strategies as adults ranging from benthic to pelagic modes. Their larval development is unusually long, lasting from a few months to more than a year, and generally includes a pelagic larval stage. Therefore, the advection of eggs and larvae with ocean currents is a key factor modulating population connectivity. Here, we compare the genetic population structures and gene flow of seven ecologically distinct notothenioid species of the southern Scotia Arc based on nuclear microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA sequences (D-loop/cytochrome b). The seven species belong to the families Nototheniidae (Gobionotothen gibberifrons, Lepidonotothen squamifrons, Trematomus eulepidotus, T. newnesi) and Channichthyidae (Chaenocephalus aceratus, Champsocephalus gunnari, Chionodraco rastrospinosus). Our results show low-population differentiation and high gene flow for all investigated species independent of their adult life history strategies. In addition, gene flow is primarily in congruence with the prevailing ocean current system, highlighting the role of larval dispersal in population structuring of notothenioids.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Christopher D. Jones from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and all scientists and crew members who helped with sampling and species identification during the US AMLR (United States Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program) 2009 finfish survey aboard RV Yuzhmorgeologiya. We further thank Karl-Hermann Kock from the Institute of Sea Fisheries (Hamburg) for sharing his invaluable knowledge about notothenioids and their ecology as well as all lab members who gave a helping hand, especially Brigitte Aeschbach and Sereina Rutschmann (Basel). We also thank two anonymous referees for their helpful suggestions on the manuscript. The study was funded by grant HA 4328/4 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG-Priority Programme 1158) to RH and WS, and by a PhD scholarship of the VolkswagenStiftung to MM.

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Damerau, M., Matschiner, M., Salzburger, W. et al. Comparative population genetics of seven notothenioid fish species reveals high levels of gene flow along ocean currents in the southern Scotia Arc, Antarctica. Polar Biol 35, 1073–1086 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1155-x

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