title: Biocomplexity in Populations of European Anchovy in the Adriatic Sea.
abstract: The sustained exploitation of marine populations requires an understanding of a species' adaptive seascape so that populations can track environmental changes from short- and long-term climate cycles and from human development. The analysis of the distributions of genetic markers among populations, together with correlates of life-history and environmental variability, can provide insights into the extent of adaptive variation. Here, we examined genetic variability among populations of mature European anchovies (n = 531) in the Adriatic (13 samples) and Tyrrhenian seas (2 samples) with neutral and putative non-neutral microsatellite loci. These genetic markers failed to confirm the occurrence of two anchovy species in the Adriatic Sea, as previously postulated. However, we found fine-scale population structure in the Adriatic, especially in northern areas, that was associated with four of the 13 environmental variables tested. Geographic gradients in sea temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen appear to drive adaptive differences in spawning time and early larval development among populations. Resolving adaptive seascapes in Adriatic anchovies provides a means to understand mechanisms underpinning local adaptation and a basis for optimizing exploitation strategies for sustainable harvests.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ruggeri
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Splendiani
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Occhipinti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fioravanti
authors.affiliation: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine Sezione Pesca Marittima, Largo Fiera della Pesca, 60125, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santojanni
authors.affiliation: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine Sezione Pesca Marittima, Largo Fiera della Pesca, 60125, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Iole
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Leonori
authors.affiliation: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine Sezione Pesca Marittima, Largo Fiera della Pesca, 60125, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Felice
authors.affiliation: FAO-FIRF, Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, AdriaMed Project, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arneri
authors.affiliation: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Procaccini
authors.affiliation: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Catanese
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Laboratory of Fisheries Science and Management of Pelagic and Demersal Resources, Šetalište I. Meštrovića, 63, 21000, Split, Croatia.
authors.forename: Vjekoslav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tičina
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero (IAMC), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Detached Unit of Capo Granitola (TP), Via del Mare, 3 91021, Torretta Granitola - Fraz. di Campobello di Mazara (TP), Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonanno
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nisi Cerioni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giovannotti
authors.affiliation: Commercial Fishery Division, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Commercial Fisheries Division, Anchorage, 99518, AK, United States of America.
authors.forename: William Stewart
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Caputo Barucchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D004777:Environment; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D009792:Oceans and Seas
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers