RESUMO
Allelic variation at a total of 20 nuclear-encoded microsatellites was examined among adult red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) sampled from 4 offshore localities in the Gulf of Mexico. The number of alleles at the 20 microsatellites ranged from 5 to 20; average (+/- SE) direct count heterozygosity values ranged from 0.148 +/- 0.025 to 0.902 +/- 0.008. No significant departures from expectations of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were found for any locus within samples, and genotypes at pairs of microsatellites appeared to be randomly associated, i.e., in genotypic equilibrium. Tests of homogeneity in allele distributions among the 4 localities were nonsignificant for 19 of the microsatellites. Allele distribution at microsatellite Lca 43 was heterogeneous among localities before (but not after) Bonferroni corrections for multiple tests executed simultaneously. Tests of homogeneity in the distribution of individual alleles at Lca 43 gave similar results: one low frequency allele was distributed heterogeneously among samples before, but not after, Bonferroni correction. Molecular analysis of variance indicated that more than 99% of variation at each microsatellite was distributed within sample localities. These results generally are consistent with the hypothesis of a single population (stock) of red snapper in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
RESUMO
Variation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was examined among 86 red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) from three geographic localities in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). A total of 29 composite mtDNA genotypes (haplotypes) was found; one haplotype occurred in 39 of 86 (45.3%) individuals assayed, and 20 haplotypes occurred in only one individual each. Tests of heterogeneity in mtDNA haplotype frequencies among localities were not significant, and there was little evidence of phylogeographic structuring of mtDNA haplotypes. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that red snapper in the northern Gulf comprise a single, panmictic population. The observed genetic homogeneity also indicates considerable gene flow (migration) among red snapper in the northern Gulf. Significant differences in levels of intrapopulational mtDNA variation were found among localities. Levels of intrapopulational mtDNA diversity in red snapper are low relative to other marine fish species studied to date.