Population Genetic Structure of the Japanese Eel Anguilla japonica in Spatial and Temporal Scales
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Hung, Chia-Ling
Abstract
The Japanese eel Anguilla japonica has dramatically declined in East Asia since the 1970s. Consequently, conservation and resource management of this species is urgently required. However, the population genetic structure of the Japanese eel, in temporal and spatial scales, is still poorly understood. We used 8 polymorphic microsatellite DNA loci to investigate the genetic composition of the Japanese eel. Inter-annual glass eel specimens were collected yearly between 1986 and 2007 from the Danshui River estuary, northern Taiwan. Intra-annual glass eel specimens were collected monthly from the Fulong estuary, Taiwan, between November 2001 and April 2002 and from Mikawa Bay, Japan, between February and April 2002. Spatial glass eel specimens were collected from Taiwan, China, Korea, and Japan. Overall genetic differentiation among the intra-annual, inter-annual, or spatial recruits was very low, and significance was observed among inter-annual and spatial recruits. Genetic variation among temporal components exceeded that among geographical components. However, pairwise genetic comparisons, multidimensional scaling (MDS), and the phylogenetic tree of all recruits showed no evidence of genetic differentiation in temporal or spatial scales. The isolation by distance (IBD) and isolation by time (IBT) tests showed no evidence of genetic structuring in the spatial and temporal scales, respectively. Occasional genetic variations among recruits occurred on a random scale, and this could not create a stable lasting genetic structure. The results strongly support the presence of a panmictic population of the Japanese eel in East Asia. Therefore, the Japanese eel should be considered as only a single management unit in conservation issues.
Subjects
Genetic differentiation
Japanese eel
Microsatellite DNA
Panmixia
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