Genetic diversity and population structure in the fiddler crab Austruca perplexa were investigated to acquire a better understanding of the evolutionary history of the species. Nucleotide sequence analysis was performed from a polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region. A 691 bp nucleotide sequence was obtained from 618 specimens collected from 13 sites across Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia. Haplotype diversity ranged from 0.8 to 0.99, and nucleotide diversity values were lower (range, 0.30–1.9%) than those reported previously for other crustacean taxa. Gene flow was evident within populations in Japan and western Indonesia, but absent among all other populations, including eastern Indonesia. This pattern conforms to the one observed in many other marine taxa across the major biogeographical region referred to as Wallacea. The population pairwise fixation index (FST) and FST P-values were high and significant among many sites, implying that gene flow is restricted among most of the geographical regions sampled here. We hypothesize that physical oceanic barriers coupled with a short pelagic larval duration are responsible for creating the patterns we found. Strong evidence for population structure in a species that has relatively high dispersal potential, resulting in among-population differentiation, is a potential driver of evolutionary novelty. Our results provide a foundation for developing better conservation strategies for this widespread intertidal species.
The shallow water shrimp Acetes sibogae sibogae is an ecological and economically important organism in the Asian region. We assessed the genetic diversity and population structure of this species based on samples obtained from eight sites in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Nucleotide sequence analyses were performed based on PCR‐amplified mitochondrial DNA fragments comprising the control region and part of the 12S rRNA gene. In total, 656 bp nucleotide sequences were obtained from 377 individuals. The results show a low haplotype diversity value in shrimp from the Kokuba‐gawa River (0.5) in Japan and intermediate values (0.79–0.99) in other populations. While nucleotide diversity estimates in all sampled localities were lower (0.17%–0.86%) than those reported in other crustaceans, analysis of molecular variance revealed significant genetic differentiation (p < .001) among all sites. Furthermore, the mean fixation index estimate was very high (FST: 0.27), indicating that dispersal potential among sites was low and gene flow, therefore, was restricted. The mismatch distribution of pairwise differences between haplotypes indicated that A. s. sibogae did not fit a sudden population expansion model. Overall, the present study indicates that wild stocks of A. s. sibogae on Okinawa‐jima Island and the Philippine and Indonesian Archipelagos should be assigned high importance for conservation management of this species because adapted genotypes have significant evolutionary potential during environmental changes. [Correction added on 5th February 2022, after first online publication: Values have been corrected in the Abstract section.]
The coral reefs of the Coral Triangle and nearby marine regions are the most biodiverse marine ecosystems in the world, providing ecosystem services to hundreds of millions of people. However, like coral reefs in other regions, these ecosystems are in decline due to a myriad of anthropogenically-induced stressors. To mitigate this decline, active coral reef restoration efforts have been increasing worldwide, including in this region. An important end-goal of coral reef restoration is the conservation of functional biodiversity of not only zooxanthellate scleractinian corals, but of all associated coral reef organisms. In this literature review, we collected papers from the Web of Science (1995-2021) focused specifically on coral reef restoration from six countries and regions around the Coral Triangle (Japan, Taiwan, mainland China, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia) to examine how much coral reef restoration research has been performed in each area, when it was performed, what methodologies were used, what organisms were targeted, and whether any assessment of biodiversity was included. Our results show great disparity in the research efforts of each area, with the Philippines clearly leading research in the region with almost half of the literature examined, followed by Japan and Indonesia, with nascent efforts in mainland China, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Overall, for the region, research appears to be increasing with time. Research in most areas was concentrated in one or two locations, and almost exclusively focused only on corals. Only approximately 38% of papers mentioned biodiversity in any manner, and only 14% included organisms other than scleractinian corals in their results. It is clear from this review that extensive research and data gaps exist regarding coral reef restoration in the western Pacific and Coral Triangle, particularly from the viewpoint of biodiversity. It is hoped that research can address these gaps before coral reef ecosystems in the region decline even further. Keywords: coral reef ecosystems, knowledge gaps, East Asia, South-East Asia, Indo-Pacific.
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