Genetic Diversity and Conservation of the Misty Grouper (Hyporthodus mystacinus) in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Overexploitation now threatens more than 90% of marine fisheries worldwide. Overfishing has been widely recognized as impacting species diversity and abundance; however, its effects on marine fish genetic diversity have been largely ignored. The groupers (Serranidae) are a commercially important family of fish in many parts of the world including in the Galapagos Islands. A recent assessment of the family by the groupers and wrasse specialist group (GWSG), suggested that the group might be particularly vulnerable to fishing, and it has also been suggested that their genetic diversity may be threatened due to overfishing [1]. One of the groupers studied, was the misty grouper Epinephelus mystacinus [2], recently renamed Hyporthodus mystacinus [3]. H. mystacinus was categorized as Least Concern (LC) in 2008 by the IUCN and in the GWSG final report, due to the fact that virtually nothing is known about its natural history [4, 5]. The final report of the GWSG states that all LC species should be the immediate focus of more data-gathering, especially in Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands [1]. The sampling of 108 fin clippings of misty groupers H. mystacinus through the Archipelago was conducted by Galapagos local fishermen. Following the procedures described in Craig et al.[6], DNA from the sample tissues was extracted, and new primers were developed from the microsatellite loci identified by Ramirez et al (2006) [7]. Our results suggest great levels of gene flow among the localities, due to the fact that there are no real geographic barriers to separate the individuals from one locality from the next. High genetic diversity has traditionally been associated with good health of populations, and may signal a good future for traditional fishing of H. mystacinus through sustainable management practices.