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Allozyme Analysis of Billfish Population Structure

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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1992 Allozyme Analysis of Billfish opulationP Structure Lee W. Morgan College of William and Mary - Virginia Institute of Marine Science Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, and the Oceanography Commons Recommended Citation Morgan, Lee W., "Allozyme Analysis of Billfish opulationP Structure" (1992). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539617645. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25773/v5-0h76-7660 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ALLOZYME ANALYSIS OF BILLFISH POPULATION STRUCTURE A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Marine Science The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Lee Morgan 1992 UfiRARY •f" of the I WRGMWjA in s titu te \ of \ MARINE SCIENCE. This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts sl/1 _________/ Lee W. Morgan Approved, August 1992 John) E. Graves, Ph.D. Committee Chairman/Advisor John A. Musfck, Ph.D. John M. Brubaker, Ph.D. .Aon A. Lucy , M. S. Bruce S. Grant, Ph.D. College of William and Mary Williamsburg, Virginia ii This thesis is dedicated to my best friend and wife, Kris and to Sabo who both provided me with love, encouragement, and support. DUM SPIRO SPERO. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................... V LIST OF TABLES......................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES.......................................viii ABSTRACT................................................ ix INTRODUCTION............................................. 2 Life history overview of striped marlin, blue marlin, and sailfish............................ 6 OBJECTIVES.............................................. 21 MATERIALS AND METHODS.................................. 2 4 Sample Collection................................... 24 Electrophoretic Technique........................... 28 Gel Scoring.......................................... 29 Statistical Analysis................................ 31 Interspecific Comparisons........................... 34 RESULTS 3 6 DISCUSSION.............................................. 68 Intraspecific Variation............................. 68 Population Structure................................ 71 Interspecific Differentiation.......................80 CONCLUSIONS............................................. 8 3 APPENDIX 1 .............................................. 85 APPENDIX II............................................. 94 LITERATURE CITED.......................................100 VITA................................................... 114 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank foremost my major professor, John Graves, for giving me the opportunity to study a fascinating subject. Throughout my study, he provided insight, experience, and unwarranted patience. I would like to especially thank John for his time; his open door policy (literally) was appreciated and is a tribute to his devotion to teaching. I would also like to thank the members of my committee for their constructive criticism and input. I greatly appreciate the assistance and camaraderie of my lab mates Ed Heist, Jan McDowell, Sandra “Stacy" Blake, Dan Scoles, and David Plottner. Special thanks to John Keinath, Deb Barnard-Keinath and Bev Sauls for editorial assistance. Also thanks to Jon Mintz for his computer expertise. Of course thanks to Mom, Mindy, Scott and Lori, and Bob and Marilyn Deter. Financial support from the Billfish Foundation for one years assistantship, the Houston Underwater Society's Seaspace Scholarship, and the American Museum of Natural History's Lerner-Gray Fund for Marine Research is also acknowledged. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission provided assistance in obtaining samples. I would also like to thank my brothers in the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta for their valued award. However none of what I have done in the past three years could have been accomplished without the support of my v best friend, who also happens to be my wife, Kris. vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Common and scientific names of billfish........ 3 2. Presumptive protein encoding loci scored...... 30 3. Allele frequencies for 12 variable loci in striped marlin........ 53 4. Per locus heterozygosity and Fst value for striped marlin......................54 5. Matrix of Nei's genetic distance for striped marlin............................ 55 6. Allele frequencies for 10 variable loci in blue marlin........................... 57 7. Per locus heterozygosity and Fsl values for blue marlin........................ 58 8. Allele frequencies for 8 variable loci in sailfish.............................. 60 9. Per locus heterozygosity and Fsl values for sailfish........................... 61 10. Allele frequencies for 9 variable loci in white marlin.......................... 63 11. Matrix of Nei's genetic distance among 7 species of billfish...................66 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Distribution of striped marlin................. 7 2. Atlantic and Pacific distribution of blue marlin....................13 3. Atlantic and Pacific distribution of sailfish....................... 17 4. Location of sampling sites for striped marlin and white marlin.....25 5. Location of sampling sites for blue marlin....26 6. Location of sampling sites for sailfish....... 27 7. UPGMA cluster of Nei's genetic distance for seven species of billfish................. 67 viii ABSTRACT Samples of billfish were collected worldwide to determine the degree of genetic variation and level of population structure within striped marlin, blue marlin and sailfish. Samples of 40-70 striped marlin were collected from Australia, Ecuador, Hawaii, and Mexico and analyzed with starch gel electrophoresis to assess^genetic population structure. Average heterozygosity (H) over 44 protein- encoding loci ranged from 0.03 1 in the Australian samples to 0.042 in the Mexican samples. Significant differences in allele frequencies among the sample sites were found for the AAT-1 and MEP-1 loci. Wright's Fst (1978) among sample sites was 0.018, indicating a slight degree of population structure within striped marlin. To assess the degree of intraspecific differentiation within striped marlin, a comparison was made to the amount of genetic differentiation occurring between Atlantic and Pacific billfish conspecifics (blue marlin and sailfish). Fifty-four blue marlin were collected from Hawaii to constitute a Pacific sample, while 54 blue marlin were collected from Puerto Rico and Jamaica to represent an Atlantic sample. Average heterozygosity was close to that of striped marlin (HAll=0.027, HPac=0.043). Wright's Fst was 0.044, indicating a larger degree of population structure than striped marlin. Sailfish were collected from two sites in Mexico for an Pacific sample and from Florida to represent an Atlantic sample. Average heterozygosity within sailfish was the lowest of any of the billfish species surveyed (HAtl=0.0015, HPac=0.006). Wright's Fst was close to that of striped marlin (Fsl=0.023). Together the pattern of genetic differentiation within striped marlin, blue marlin, and sailfish provide evidence that population structure can exist in a strictly pelagic species. Finally, the genetic divergence among seven species of billfish was determined using Nei's genetic distance (1972) as a measure. The billfish as a group tended to be closely related. Blue and black marlin, two species which have historically been placed in the same genus, Makaira, exhibited the largest Nei's genetic distance measure (D=0.377). This raises the question as to whether blue and black marlin have shared a recent common ancestor. ix ALLOZYME ANALYSIS OF BILLFISH POPULATION STRUCTURE INTRODUCTION The families Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae are collectively referred to as billfish and are represented by ten nominal species (Table 1). The monotypic family Xiphiidae consist of the swordfish (Xiphius gladius), while the family Istiophoridae comprise 3 genera, Istiophorus. Tetrapturus. and Makaira. representing 9 nominal species (Klawe 1980, Moyle and Cech 1982, Nakamura 1983). Billfish represent a major commercial and recreational fishing resource throughout tropical and temperate waters. The fish attract anglers worldwide, not only because of their large size, but also because of their fighting abilities (Smith 1956) which have achieved literary fame in the classic works of Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey. Billfish tournaments are held several times a year throughout the world and represent a major source of revenue for local economies. Centers for recreational marlin and sailfish angling in the Atlantic include Africa, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cuba, Venezuela, the Bahamas, Florida, and the east coast of the United States (Erdman 1962, de Sylva 1963, Bochenek 1989). In the Pacific, marlin fishing is popular throughout the basin with international tournaments conducted in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, 2 TABLE 1. Common and scientific names of billfish. Common name Scientific name Sailfish Istiophorus platvpterus Black Marlin Makaira indica
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