Fisheries Management and Ecology
Fisheries Management and Ecology, 2012, 19, 301–312
Conservation genetics and management of yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus, in the US Caribbean and South Florida
E. A. SAILLANT Department of Coastal Sciences, The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, MS, USA
M. A. RENSHAW Center for Biosystematics and Biodiversity, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
N. J. CUMMINGS Southeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, Miami, FL, USA
J. R. GOLD Center for Biosystematics and Biodiversity, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
Abstract Population-genetic structure and average long-term effective size of yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus (Bloch), sampled offshore from the Florida Keys and four localities in the US Caribbean, were inves- tigated using nuclear-encoded microsatellites and a fragment of the mitochondrially encoded ND-4 gene. Analysis of spatial genetic variation revealed occurrence of up to four groupings (stocks) of yellowtail snapper: one in the Florida Keys, one along the west coast of Puerto Rico, one that includes the east coast of Puerto Rico and St. Thomas and one offshore of St. Croix. The observed genetic differences among localities are not strong, and additional sampling to examine whether the observed patterns of population structure are temporally stable is warranted. Levels of genetic variability and estimates of average, long-term effective size (Ne) indicate that yel- lowtail snapper at all five localities have, at present, sufficient genetic variation to maintain long-term integrity and sustainability.
KEYWORDS: connectivity, conservation genetics, Ocyurus chrysurus, population structure, US Caribbean, yellowtail snapper.
2009). Management of reef fish resources, including Introduction yellowtail snapper, in the US Caribbean fishery Yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus (Bloch), is a (Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the sur- reef-associated lutjanid fish found throughout coastal rounding EEZ) has been of concern (SEDAR8 waters of the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic {Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review} 2005) and shelf (Allen 1985; Cummings 2004a). The species is limited by a critical absence of information on supports important fisheries in the southeastern United individual species (http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/sedar/ States (principally southern Florida) and in the Carib- download/CaribData_Final.pdf?id=DOCUMENT). bean Sea (Johnson 1983; Manooch & Drennon 1987; Among the pressing needs are: (1) delineation of Matos-Caraballo 2000; Cummings 2004b; Claro et al. different management units (stocks) within the fishery,
Correspondence: Eric Saillant, Department of Coastal Sciences, The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, MS 39564, USA (e-mail: [email protected])