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Genetic connectivity in a herbivorous coral reef fish (Acanthurus leucosternon Bennet, 1833) in the Eastern African region

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Abstract

Knowledge of larval dispersal and connectivity in coral reef species is crucial for understanding population dynamics, resilience, and evolution of species. Here, we use ten microsatellites and one mitochondrial marker (cytochrome b) to investigate the genetic population structure, genetic diversity, and historical demography of the powder-blue tang Acanthurus leucosternon across more than 1000 km of the scarcely studied Eastern African region. The global AMOVA results based on microsatellites reveal a low but significant F ST value (F ST = 0.00252 P < 0.001; D EST = 0.025 P = 0.0018) for the 336 specimens sampled at ten sample sites, while no significant differentiation could be found in the mitochondrial cytochrome b dataset. On the other hand, pairwise F ST, PCOA, and hierarchical analysis failed to identify any genetic breaks among the Eastern African populations, supporting the hypothesis of genetic homogeneity. The observed genetic homogeneity among Eastern African sample sites can be explained by the lengthy post-larval stage of A. leucosternon, which can potentiate long-distance dispersal. Tests of neutrality and mismatch distribution signal a population expansion during the mid-Pleistocene period.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this project was obtained from the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, International Foundation for Science (IFS) (IFS Grant No. A/5677-1), and Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI). We thank Patroba Matiku (Tanzanian Fisheries Research Institute) for logistical support and Daniel Ocharo, Joshua Omweri, and Abubakar Athman (KMFRI), as well as January Ndagala and Shabaan Chikambo for fieldwork assistance. We also thank Sonja Peters (ZMT) for laboratory assistance and Patrick Curry (ZMT) for proofreading the text. The Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) together with National Council of Science and Technology, Kenya (NACOSTI) provided a scholarship to Levy Otwoma. We thank four anonymous reviewers and the journal editors for their comments that greatly improved the manuscript.

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  1. Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany

    Levy Michael Otwoma, Hauke Reuter & Achim Meyer

  2. University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Levy Michael Otwoma, Hauke Reuter & Janne Timm

  3. Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), Mombasa, Kenya

    Levy Michael Otwoma

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10750_2017_3363_MOESM1_ESM.eps

Supplementary material 1 (EPS 16 kb) Supplementary Fig. S1 Plot of Delta K against the K (clusters), the highest value of Delta K indicates the likely number of clusters (K = 2) for Eastern African population

10750_2017_3363_MOESM2_ESM.eps

Supplementary material 2 (EPS 654 kb) Supplementary Fig. S2 Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) for A. leucosternon using unbiased Nei genetic distance based on 10 loci. The percentage variation of the PCoA is represented by axis 1 (47.62%) and 2 (25.34%). For sample site abbreviations see Table 1

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Otwoma, L.M., Reuter, H., Timm, J. et al. Genetic connectivity in a herbivorous coral reef fish (Acanthurus leucosternon Bennet, 1833) in the Eastern African region. Hydrobiologia 806, 237–250 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3363-4

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