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Hydrology influences population genetic structure and connectivity of the intertidal amphipod Corophium volutator in the northwest Atlantic

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Abstract

The mechanisms driving genetic structure in marine systems are elusive due to the difficulty of identifying temporal and spatial barriers to dispersal. By studying marine invertebrate species with limited dispersal potential, genetic structure can be directly related to physical and biological factors restricting connectivity. In the northwest Atlantic, the benthic brood-rearing amphipod Corophium volutator is distributed across basins with distinct circulation patterns and has the potential to disperse passively during its adult stage. We analyzed spatial genetic variation and migration rates across C. volutator’s North American range with sequence data for mitochondrial DNA and three novel nuclear markers using frequency and coalescent-based methods. We found low genetic differentiation within basins, but strong subdivision within the Bay of Fundy and a striking biogeographic break between the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine, suggesting that genetic drift may act on populations in which connectivity is restricted due to the limitation of passive dispersal by hydrological patterns.

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Acknowledgments

This work could not have been accomplished without samples collected by Travis Gerwing and David Drolet (University of New Brunswick). The authors wish to thank Linley Jesson (University of New Brunswick) for valuable discussion and feedback, the associate editor Cynthia Riginos, and four anonymous reviewers for their comments, which helped improve the manuscript. This work was supported by funds to the Addison laboratory from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, and the University of New Brunswick.

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  1. Biology Department, University of New Brunswick, PO 4400, Fredericton, NB, E3B5A3, Canada

    A. L. Einfeldt & J. A. Addison

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  1. A. L. Einfeldt
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  2. J. A. Addison
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Correspondence to A. L. Einfeldt.

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Communicated by C. Riginos.

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227_2012_2154_MOESM1_ESM.docx

Figure S1 Detection of number of clusters (k) from Structure outputs using ΔK (Evanno et al. 2005) for SUBI, nDNA, and combined data. (DOCX 43 kb)

227_2012_2154_MOESM2_ESM.docx

Figure S2 Isolation by distance analyses from IBDWS plotting genetic similarity (M) vs. log (geographic distance) across study range for a) SUBI, b) CV1 + CV2 + CV3, within East for c) SUBI, d) CV1 + CV2 + CV3, within West for e) SUBI, f) CV1 + CV2 + CV3, within Middle for g) SUBI, h) CV1 + CV2 + CV3, and within Outer for i) SUBI, j) CV1 + CV2 + CV3. (DOCX 684 kb)

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Einfeldt, A.L., Addison, J.A. Hydrology influences population genetic structure and connectivity of the intertidal amphipod Corophium volutator in the northwest Atlantic. Mar Biol 160, 1015–1027 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-2154-8

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