Date of Award

Spring 2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biological Sciences

Program/Concentration

Biology

Committee Director

Kent E. Carpenter

Committee Member

Lisa A. Horth

Committee Member

*In honor to the memory of Tim J. Motley

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.B46 H56 2013

Abstract

Many questions remain regarding the origins of the well-known peak in marine biodiversity found in the Coral Triangle. Barriers to gene flow may promote lineage diversification and provide the potential for speciation contributing to the high biodiversity in this area. Population structure was examined in two species of Emperor Snappers (Lethrinidae), Lethrinus harak and Lethrinus lentjan. These species were selected because they share similar life-history traits and geographic distributions, but differ in their habitat preferences. Specimens were collected from within the Coral Triangle as well as other localities across the Indo-Pacific. To investigate phylogeographic patterns and structure a hypervariable region of the mtDNA Control Region was amplified, sequenced and analyzed. Both Lethrinus species show genetic breaks in the western part of the Coral Triangle which corroborates previously established phylogeographic barriers. In L. lentjan, observed genetic similarity varied across the Thai-Malay Peninsula in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, and populations were genetically distinct from sites within the Philippines and central Indonesia. Genetic differences in L. lentjan were also found between sites in central and southern Vietnam, which is hypothesized to be caused by a barrier to larval dispersal because of changes in water conditions at the mouth of the Mekong River.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/pk64-nt89

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