Genetic population structure of mangrove jack, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskål)

Translocations of mangrove jack, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskål 1775), to increase angling opportunities in artificial impoundments are foreshadowed in Queensland. To evaluate genetic population structure before translocations occur, mangrove jack were collected from three sites on the Queensland coast and from one site on the north-western coast of Western Australia. Allelic variation at four dinucleotide microsatellite loci was high: gene diversity (heterozygosity) ranged from 0.602 to 0.930 and allelic counts from 10 to 24. Genetic differentiation among collection sites was weak: estimates of FST were 0.002 for all four sites, and less (FST = 0.001) across a major biogeographical boundary (the Torres Strait region). Nucleotide sequence from two mitochondrial regions (control, 375 base pairs, and ATPase, 415 base pairs) was obtained from a subset of the Australian and additional Indo-Pacific (Indonesian and Samoan) mangrove jack. Haplotype diversity was high (control region, 33 haplotypes for 34 fish; ATPase region, 13 haplotypes for 56 fish). Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data could not discern a relationship between tree topology and geography. These results suggest that mangrove jack in Queensland, and possibly throughout Australia, experience high levels of gene flow. The artificial gene flow caused by permitted translocations is unlikely to exceed natural levels. Fine-scale ecological matching between donor and recipient populations may increase stocking success, and is important if translocation is needed as a species recovery tool in the future