Population genetic structure of Scombrops boops (Percoid, Scombropidae) around the Japanese archipelago inferred from the cytochrome b gene sequence in mitochondrial DNA

Abstract

The gnomefish (Scombrops boops) is a member of the percoid family Scombropidae, which includes a single genus and three to four species worldwide. Since little is known about the ecology of this species, here, sequencing analysis of the cytochrome b gene (1141 bp) in mitochondrial DNA detected 101 haplotypes from 186 individuals of S. boops collected from waters at seven localities around the Japanese archipelago. A single haplotype (Sb2) was the most abundant in the combined populations of S. boops from various localities. Genetic population structure analyses revealed no significant differences among these populations (Fst = − 0.0313–0.0195; Φst = − 0.0505–0.0615) with high haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity. This suggests that S. boops around the Japanese archipelago constitutes a single population, and indicates that the genetic structure of this population may be influenced by larval and egg dispersal in association with warm currents.

Keywords::

• Gnomefish
• mtDNA
• population structure
• resource management
• scombropid

Declaration of interest: This study was funded, in part, by the Nihon University College of Bioresource Sciences through Research Grants for 2007 and 2008 conferred on S.I. and N.T. The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.