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Hoffman JI, Bauer E, Paijmans AJ, Humble E, Beckmann LM, Kubetschek C, Christaller F, Kröcker N, Fuchs B, Moreras A, Shihlomule YD, Bester MN, Cleary AC, De Bruyn PJN, Forcada J, Goebel ME, Goldsworthy SD, Guinet C, Hoelzel AR, Lydersen C, Kovacs KM, Lowther A. A global cline in a colour polymorphism suggests a limited contribution of gene flow towards the recovery of a heavily exploited marine mammal. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:181227. [PMID: 30473858 PMCID: PMC6227926 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Evaluating how populations are connected by migration is important for understanding species resilience because gene flow can facilitate recovery from demographic declines. We therefore investigated the extent to which migration may have contributed to the global recovery of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), a circumpolar distributed marine mammal that was brought to the brink of extinction by the sealing industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is widely believed that animals emigrating from South Georgia, where a relict population escaped sealing, contributed to the re-establishment of formerly occupied breeding colonies across the geographical range of the species. To investigate this, we interrogated a genetic polymorphism (S291F) in the melanocortin 1 receptor gene, which is responsible for a cream-coloured phenotype that is relatively abundant at South Georgia and which appears to have recently spread to localities as far afield as Marion Island in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean. By sequencing a short region of this gene in 1492 pups from eight breeding colonies, we showed that S291F frequency rapidly declines with increasing geographical distance from South Georgia, consistent with locally restricted gene flow from South Georgia mainly to the South Shetland Islands and Bouvetøya. The S291F allele was not detected farther afield, suggesting that although emigrants from South Georgia may have been locally important, they are unlikely to have played a major role in the recovery of geographically more distant populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. I. Hoffman
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
- British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK
| | - E. Bauer
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - A. J. Paijmans
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - E. Humble
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - L. M. Beckmann
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - C. Kubetschek
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - F. Christaller
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - N. Kröcker
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - B. Fuchs
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - A. Moreras
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Y. D. Shihlomule
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa
| | - M. N. Bester
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa
| | - A. C. Cleary
- Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
| | - P. J. N. De Bruyn
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa
| | - J. Forcada
- British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK
| | - M. E. Goebel
- Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - S. D. Goldsworthy
- South Australian Research and Development Institute, 2 Hamra Avenue, West Beach, South Australia 5024, Australia
| | - C. Guinet
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), CNRS and Université de La Rochelle - UMR 7372, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
| | - A. R. Hoelzel
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - C. Lydersen
- Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
| | - K. M. Kovacs
- Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
| | - A. Lowther
- Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
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