Population structure of the Dory snapper Lutjanus fulviflamma in the western Indian Ocean as revealed by AFLP fingerprinting

Abstract

The genetic structure of spatially separated populations of the Dory snapper, Lutjanus fulviflamma, was investigated in seven areas along the East African coast and one area in the Comoros archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Phylogenetic and multidimensional scaling analyses did not show any clear clustering of individuals into the spatially separated populations. The analysis of molecular variance clearly showed that the variation was partitioned within populations and not between populations, leading to low genetic differentiation among populations. No clear relationship between genetic distance and geographic distance between populations was observed. These observations suggest that populations of Lutjanus fulviflamma have an open structure and are possibly genetically connected on a large geographic scale in the western Indian Ocean. [KEYWORDS: AFLP ; coral reef fish ; dispersal ; gene flow ; genetic connectivity ; Indian Ocean]