Oceanographic barriers influence the connectivity: a spatial and temporal study of the marine crab Liocarcinus depurator

VI Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Biología Evolutiva (SESBE) - 6th Meeting of the Spanish Society for Evolutionary Biology (SESBE), 17-19 January 2018, Palma.-- 1 pageIn marine biology, the classic point of view presented the sea as an open space allowing a rather homogenous dispersion of species. However, scientists accumulated evidences that some oceanic discontinuities could affect marine species distribution. In this research, we have analyzed the spatial and temporal genetic differentiation of the portunid marine crab Liocarcinus depurator using a 527 pb fragment of the Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) mitochondrial gene. The main aim was to collect samples across the three permanent o semi-permanent oceanic barriers found along the Atlantic-Mediterranean transition and western Mediterranean area: Gibraltar Strait, Almeria-Oran Front and Ibiza Channel. Collections were carried out in 2016 and compared with previous analyses. The populations sampled were Cadiz, West Alboran, East Alboran, Alicante, Valencia and Ebro Delta. The most genetic diverse collections were Cadiz and West Alboran, which may be explained by the contribution from other Atlantic populations. As in previous studies, two haplogroups were found being the first one (ATL) more abundant in Atlantic samples and Mediterranean areas with strong Atlantic influence, whereas the second one (MED) was mainly observed in the remaining Mediterranean populations. The most outstanding result for the 2016 analysis was that the main oceanographic barrier separating Atlantic from Mediterranean populations of L. depurator was located between West and East Alboran. More years deserve to be studied to assess whether this discontinuity is stable over time, and we are working in this directionPeer Reviewe