Genetic Analysis and Population Structure of Spiny Lobsters in the Caribbean

该奖项将支持威廉玛丽学院弗吉尼亚海洋科学研究所的Romuald N. Lipcius教授和Brian W. Meehan教授与牙买加西印度群岛大学的Karl Aiken教授和牙买加渔业的Milton Haughton教授合作进行一项研究。研究人员打算使用一种最新的技术（线粒体DNA限制片段分析）来评估遗传和种群异质性，这些样本来自牙买加、墨西哥、巴哈马、以及百慕大的大龙虾。关于加勒比地区多刺龙虾和其他广泛分布的海洋物种的生态学和渔业生物学方面尚未解决的关键问题是种群的规模和地理分化程度。这一问题的解决可能导致我们对生态关系（例如，征聘动态）和对这一和其他重要的加勒比海洋渔业的管理的理解取得重大进展。多刺龙虾栖息在从百慕大到巴西的沿海水域，它们的繁殖受到主要洋流系统的影响。幼虫有可能在整个加勒比盆地进行远洋运输，从而在种群结构上产生泛加勒比地区的同质性。或者，幼虫可以留在当地的环流中，从而产生地理分化。为了评估地理分化的程度和规模，对地理区域间和地理区域内的人口异质性进行表征是至关重要的。这项发展中国家科学计划的奖励将为以下方面提供必要的信息：(1)进一步调查多刺龙虾的地理差异；(2)调查广泛分布的加勒比物种的招募过程；(3)帮助支持有效的泛加勒比渔业管理的发展。

This award will support Professors Romuald N. Lipcius and Brian W. Meehan of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science of the College of William & Mary, in a research collaboration with Professors Karl Aiken of the University of the West Indies and Milton Haughton of Jamaica Fisheries, both in Jamaica. The investigators intend to use a recent technique (mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment analysis) to assess genetic and population hetero-geneity in statistically sound samples from selected populations in Jamaica, Mexico, the Bahamas, and Bermuda of the spiny lobster Panilirus argus. The key unresolved issue concerning the ecology and fishery biology of the spiny lobster and other widely dispersed marine species in the Caribbean pertains to the scales and degree of geographic differentiation of populations. Resolution of this issue could lead to major advances in our understanding of ecological relationships (e.g., recruitment dynamics) and management of this and other important Caribbean marine fisheries. Spiny lobsters inhabit coastal waters from Bermuda to Brazil, and their recruitment is affected by major oceanic current systems. The potential exists for pelagic transport of larvae throughout the Caribbean basin, thereby producing pan-Caribbean homogeneity in population structure. Alternatively, larvae could be retained within local gyres, thereby producing geographic differentiation. In order to assess the degree and scales of geographic differenti- ation, it is critical to characterize population heterogeneity across and within geographic areas. This Science in Developing Countries Program award will provide the requisite information for (1) further investigations of geographic differentiation in the spiny lobster, (2) investigations of recruitment processes in widely dispersed Caribbean species, and (3) help to support the development of effective pan-Caribbean fisheries management.