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

CRUZ, VANESSA P.; ADACHI, A.M.C.L.; OLIVEIRA, P.; RIBEIRO G.; PAIM, F.G.; SOUZA, B.; RODRIGUES, A.; VIANNA, M.; DELPIANI, S.M.; DÍAZ DE ASTARLOA, J. M.; ROTUNDO, M.; MENDONÇA, F.; OLIVEIRA, C.; LESSA, R.; FORESTI, F.

NEOTROPICAL ICHTHYOLOGY

SOC BRASILEIRA ICTIOLOGIA

Lugar: Porto Alegre; Año: 2021 vol. 19 p. 1 - 21

1679-6225

The guitarfishes Pseudobatos horkelii and Pseudobatos percellens meet the criteria forthreatened status as critically endangered and endangered, respectively. Both speciesoccur in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Considering the lack of data on the geneticstructure of these species, the present study evaluated the genetic variability andpopulation structure of the P. horkelii and P. percellens in the southern region of Braziland the northern coast of Argentina, based on sequences of mitochondrial DNA,Control Region (D-loop). Samples of P. horkelii (n = 135) were analyzed in sixlocalities situated in Northern Argentina, along the Brazilian states´ coast. The mean ofnucleotide diversity was 0.0053, the ΦST was 0.4277 and demographic analysis of P.horkelii suggests the existence of stability of the populations, with D = 0.9929, FS =2.0155, SSD = 0.0817, R = 0.2153. In P. percellens (n = 101) were analyzed from sixBrazilian localities along the coast of Santa Catarina, Paraná, and São Paulo. The meannucleotide diversity was 0.0014 and ΦST value of 0.2921, the demographic analysisindicates a high migration rate of P. percellens among the localities evaluated, with D =0.5222, FS = 0.3528, SSD = 0.01785, R = 0.3890.