Pomilla Cristina, Amaral Ana R, Collins Tim, Minton Gianna, Findlay Ken, Leslie Matthew S, Ponnampalam Louisa, Baldwin Robert, Rosenbaum Howard
Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America.
Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America; Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
PLoS One. 2014 Dec 3;9(12):e114162. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114162. eCollection 2014.
A clear understanding of population structure is essential for assessing conservation status and implementing management strategies. A small, non-migratory population of humpback whales in the Arabian Sea is classified as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, an assessment constrained by a lack of data, including limited understanding of its relationship to other populations. We analysed 11 microsatellite markers and mitochondrial DNA sequences extracted from 67 Arabian Sea humpback whale tissue samples and compared them to equivalent datasets from the Southern Hemisphere and North Pacific. Results show that the Arabian Sea population is highly distinct; estimates of gene flow and divergence times suggest a Southern Indian Ocean origin but indicate that it has been isolated for approximately 70,000 years, remarkable for a species that is typically highly migratory. Genetic diversity values are significantly lower than those obtained for Southern Hemisphere populations and signatures of ancient and recent genetic bottlenecks were identified. Our findings suggest this is the world's most isolated humpback whale population, which, when combined with low population abundance estimates and anthropogenic threats, raises concern for its survival. We recommend an amendment of the status of the population to "Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List.
清楚了解种群结构对于评估保护状况和实施管理策略至关重要。阿拉伯海的一小群非洄游座头鲸在世界自然保护联盟濒危物种红色名录中被列为“濒危”，这一评估受到数据缺乏的限制，包括对其与其他种群关系的了解有限。我们分析了从67份阿拉伯海座头鲸组织样本中提取的11个微卫星标记和线粒体DNA序列，并将它们与来自南半球和北太平洋的等效数据集进行比较。结果表明，阿拉伯海的种群非常独特；基因流和分化时间的估计表明其起源于南印度洋，但表明它已经隔离了大约7万年，这对于一个通常高度洄游的物种来说是很显著的。遗传多样性值显著低于南半球种群，并且发现了古代和近期遗传瓶颈的迹象。我们的研究结果表明，这是世界上最孤立的座头鲸种群，再加上种群数量估计较低和人为威胁，引发了对其生存的担忧。我们建议在世界自然保护联盟红色名录中将该种群的状况修订为“极度濒危”。
