Connectivity of populations within and between major biogeographic regions of the tropical Pacific in Conus ebraeus, a widespread marine gastropod

Abstract

Information on genetic connectivity and structure of populations in the tropical Pacific is critical for making inferences about the origins and maintenance of diversity in this region. Sequences of the mitochondrial COI gene from 92 individuals of the trans-Pacific gastropod Conus ebraeus from eight localities spanning the tropical Pacific were analyzed to determine whether populations in the western, central, and eastern Pacific exhibit genetic structure, to examine the demographic histories of populations, and to infer patterns of gene flow. A total of 43 unique haplotypes were recovered, including a common haplotype that occurred in six of the eight populations examined. AMOVA and pairwise F-statistics showed that populations in the western and central Pacific were significantly differentiated from populations in the eastern Pacific, but no other evidence of structure. Bayesian isolation-migration (IM) analysis suggested that populations in the western and central Pacific separated from those in eastern Pacific during the Pleistocene. Examination of mismatch distributions and results from IM revealed that populations in the western and central Pacific expanded during the Pleistocene. Gene flow across the East Pacific Barrier appears to occur predominantly westward.