Genetic diversity in two threatened species of guitarfish (Elasmobranchii: Rhinobatidae) from the Brazilian and Argentinian coasts: an alert for conservation

CRUZ, VANESSA P.; ADACHI, AISNI M.C. L.; OLIVEIRA, PABLO H.; RIBEIRO, GIOVANA S.; PAIM, FABILENE G.; SOUZA, BRUNO C.; RODRIGUES, ALEXANDRE S.F.; VIANNA, MARCELO; DELPIANI, SERGIO M.; DÍAZ DE ASTARLOA, JUAN MARTÍN; ROTUNDO, MATHEUS M.; MENDONÇA, FERNANDO F.; OLIVEIRA, CLAUDIO; LESSA, ROSANGELA P.; FORESTI, FAUSTO

NEOTROPICAL ICHTHYOLOGY

SOC BRASILEIRA ICTIOLOGIA

Año: 2021 vol. 19 p. 1 - 15

1679-6225

The guitarfishes Pseudobatos horkelii and Pseudobatos percellens meet the criteriafor threatened status as Critically Endangered (CR) and Endangered (EN),respectively. Both species occur in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Considering thelack of data on the genetic structure of these species, the present study evaluatedthe genetic variability and population structure of the P. horkelii and P. percellensin the southern region of Brazil and the northern coast of Argentina, based onsequences of mitochondrial DNA, Control Region (D-loop). Samples of P. horkelii(n = 135) were analyzed in six localities situated in Northern Argentina, along theBrazilian states? coast. The mean of nucleotide diversity was 0.0053, the ΦST was0.4277 and demographic analysis of P. horkelii suggests the existence of stabilityof the populations, with D = 0.9929, FS = 2.0155, SSD = 0.0817, R = 0.2153. InP. percellens (n = 101) were analyzed from six Brazilian localities along the coast ofSanta Catarina, Paraná, and São Paulo. The mean nucleotide diversity was 0.0014and ΦST value of 0.2921, the demographic analysis indicates a high migration rateof P. percellens among the localities evaluated, with D = 0.5222, FS = 0.3528, SSD =0.01785, R = 0.3890.