title: Female philopatry in coastal basins and male dispersion across the North Atlantic in a highly mobile marine species, the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus).
abstract: The mechanisms that determine population structure in highly mobile marine species are poorly understood, but useful towards understanding the evolution of diversity, and essential for effective conservation and management. In this study, we compare putative sperm whale populations located in the Gulf of Mexico, western North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and North Sea using mtDNA control region sequence data and 16 polymorphic microsatellite loci. The Gulf of Mexico, western North Atlantic and North Sea populations each possessed similar low levels of haplotype and nucleotide diversity at the mtDNA locus, while the Mediterranean Sea population showed no detectable mtDNA diversity. Mitochondrial DNA results showed significant differentiation between all populations, while microsatellites showed significant differentiation only for comparisons with the Mediterranean Sea, and at a much lower level than seen for mtDNA. Samples from either side of the North Atlantic in coastal waters showed no differentiation for mtDNA, while North Atlantic samples from just outside the Gulf of Mexico (the western North Atlantic sample) were highly differentiated from samples within the Gulf at this locus. Our analyses indicate a previously unknown fidelity of females to coastal basins either side of the North Atlantic, and suggest the movement of males among these populations for breeding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Durham, South Road, Durham, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Engelhaupt
authors.forename: A Rus
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hoelzel
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frantzis
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mesnick
authors.forename: Shane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gero
authors.forename: Hal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rendell
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Renaud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Stefanis
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cañadas
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Airoldi
authors.forename: Antonio A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mignucci-Giannoni
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D051456:Gene Flow; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D008297:Male; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D050661:Sperm Whale / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial