Integrating ecological and genomic insights for monitoring conservation status and trends in seahorses

BOSSO LUCIANO; OLAVE MELISA; ET AL.; FRANCESCA RAFFINI

Congreso; Marine Evolution; 2023

Seahorses (Hippocampus genus) are flagship animals inspiring numerous conservation programs and the first marine genus to be fully listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix II due to their substantial vulnerability to overexploitation and habitat loss. While seahorses’ life history has been addressed through different evolutionary and ecological studies, no study has integrated current knowledge to approach species-based conservation status, including trends in abundance, diversity, and threats, hindering worldwide seahorses’ effective assessment and management. Here, under an interdisciplinary approach, we bridge these gaps principles by reviewing, compiling and analyzing the available geographic information, ecological data and genomics (ultra-conserved elements and whole genomes) in the Hippocampus species at global scale, and present the most comprehensive study of seahorses’ conservation status to date. Specifically, here we study species distributions and perform ecological niches modelling, phylogenomic mapping, comparative genomic applications, demographic inferences, and conservation gap analyses. Additionally, we investigate their evolutionary history, demographic changes and genomic erosion including genetic load, which have been largely disregarded by current conservation policies. Taken together, we explore the degree and type of protective measures currently granted to seahorses, and the biological and ecological factors that are contributing to their current and future extinction risk. Our results raise questions on whether the current conservation indicators and practices are effective in preserving the present diversity and function of these iconic fish, as well as its future evolutionary potential and ecological resilience. These insights provide a broad, more complete picture on the current status and trends of seahorses and successfully inform conservation initiatives. Finally, as more diverse datasets become available in light of the “open-access” era, we discuss the unprecedented opportunities to address interdisciplinary studies required for proper research-based conservation, assessment and management of biodiversity.