No loss of genetic diversity in the exploited and recently collapsed population of Bay of Biscay anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, L.)

The European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus , in the Bay of Biscay suffered a collapse in census population size ( N c ) starting in 2002, from which it did not recover until 2010. The slow recovery raised concern over sustainability, potential reduction in adaptive potential, and vulnerability to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine biology 2016-05, Vol.163 (5), p.1, Article 98
Main Authors: Montes, Iratxe, Iriondo, Mikel, Manzano, Carmen, Santos, Maria, Conklin, Darrell, Carvalho, Gary R., Irigoien, Xabier, Estonba, Andone
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal populations
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Fish
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Genetic diversity
Genetic drift
Genetics
Life Sciences
Marine & Freshwater Sciences
Marine biology
Microbiology
Oceanography
Original Paper
Population decline
Population number
Zoology
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Summary:The European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus , in the Bay of Biscay suffered a collapse in census population size ( N c ) starting in 2002, from which it did not recover until 2010. The slow recovery raised concern over sustainability, potential reduction in adaptive potential, and vulnerability to local extirpation. Long- and short-term effective population size ( N e ), N e / N c ratio, and other genetic parameters were estimated to evaluate demographic signals of population decline. A total of 349 neutral single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were screened in 330 anchovy individuals from the Bay of Biscay distributed across a 20-year period. We show that N c fluctuations have not significantly affected short-term N e , and therefore, genetic diversity has remained stable throughout the recent collapse. This study illustrates that N e estimates should be incorporated into management plans. Our results on short-term N e suggested that the anchovy in the Bay of Biscay has not faced any recent severe threat of losing evolutionary potential due to genetic drift. However, differences between short- and long-term N e estimates suggested that the Bay of Biscay anchovy population may be currently much smaller than in the historical past.
ISSN:0025-3162
1432-1793
DOI:10.1007/s00227-016-2866-2