AUTHOR=Córdova-Alarcón Valentina R. , Araneda Cristián , Jilberto Felipe , Magnolfi Piero , Toledo María Isabel , Lam Natalia 

TITLE=Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Genypterus chilensis, a Commercial Benthic Marine Species of the South Pacific

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00748

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2019.00748

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=<p>The red cusk-eel (<italic>Genypterus chilensis</italic>, <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B25">Guichenot, 1848</xref>) is an iconic species in Chilean gastronomy, with a cultural significance that extends beyond its economic value, worthy of conservation. Despite the decline in fishery productivity across most of the distribution range for this species, little effort has been devoted to assessing stock management. In the present study, seven heterologous microsatellite loci (<italic>cmrGb3.8.1</italic>, <italic>cmrGb5.2B</italic>, <italic>cmrGb4.2A</italic>, <italic>cmrGb4.2B</italic>, <italic>cmrGb5.9</italic>, <italic>cmrGb4.11</italic>, and <italic>cmrGb2.6.1</italic>) were genotyped in a total of 153 individuals from four locations in central and southern Chile (30.5–37.6°S), comprising ∼1,000 km of coastline. Five microsatellite loci were consistently amplified with a low frequency of null alleles (&lt;2.5%). These markers showed high average heterozygosity (<italic>H</italic><sub><italic>O</italic></sub> = 0.886 and <italic>H</italic><sub><italic>E</italic></sub> = 0.884) and <italic>PIC</italic> (0.869). Significant genetic differentiation among locations (global <italic>F</italic><sub><italic>ST</italic></sub> = 0.043, global <italic>D</italic><sub><italic>Jost</italic></sub> = 0.252) suggested the presence of at least two genetic groups along the Chilean coast, with moderate levels of admixture between the two central populations (0.168 &lt; <italic>Q</italic><sub>mean</sub> &lt; 0.822). The southern population showed no admixture with the central populations (<italic>Q</italic><sub>mean</sub> = 0.985), less allelic richness and a small effective population size, indicating that urgent management measures must be developed for this fishery. The present study provides baseline information to assist fishery and aquaculture management and contribute to the recovery of declining populations.</p>