Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T12:00:13.372Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Records and genetic diversity of striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2009

Ana Galov*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Gordan Lauc
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, A. Kovačića 1, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Nela Nikolić
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences, Meštrovićevo šetalište bb, 21000 Split, Croatia
Zlatko Šatović
Affiliation:
Department of Seed Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tomislav Gomerčić
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Martina Đuras Gomerčić
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Ivna Kocijan
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Branka Šeol
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Hrvoje Gomerčić
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A. Galov Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) is a small, pelagic and cosmopolitan cetacean. Though it is the most common dolphin species in the Mediterranean Sea, it is not considered resident in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. Fifteen striped dolphins were found dead in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea in the last eight years (1999–2007). More specimens were found in southern than in the northern part of the Adriatic. Analysis of twelve microsatellite loci and sequencing of 882 base pair (bp) fragment of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region were performed for genetic characterization. The mean allelic diversity (7±0.78) and mean expected heterozygosity (0.727±0.05) reveal high genetic variation. Significant deviation from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was observed at two loci. Sequence analysis of the mtDNA control region identified seven unique haplotypes with 22 polymorphic sites in ten individuals. The haplotype diversity (0.911±0.077) was high, while nucleotide diversity was strikingly low (0.006±0.003). Results presented here support the notion of the striped dolphin not being resident species in Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Archer, F.I. and Perrin, W.F. (1999) Stenella coeruleoalba. Mammalian Species 603, 19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bearzi, G., Fortuna, C.M. and Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. (1998) Unusual sighting of a striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the Kvarnerić, Northern Adriatic Sea. Natura Croatica 7, 169176.Google Scholar
Bearzi, G., Holcer, D. and Notarbartolo Di Sciara, G. (2004) The role of historical takes and habitat degradation in shaping the present status of northern Adriatic cetaceans. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 14, 363379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belkhir, K., Borsa, P., Chikhi, L., Raufaste, N. and Bonhomme, F. (1996–2004) GENETIX 4.05, logiciel sous Windows TM pour la génétique des populations. Montpellier, France: Laboratoire Génome, Populations, Interactions, CNRS UMR 5171, Université de Montpellier II.Google Scholar
Bérubé, M., Aguilar, A., Dendanto, D., Larsen, F., Notarbartolo Di Sciara, G., Sears, R., Sigurjónsson, J., Urban, R.J. and Palsbøll, P.J. (1998) Population genetic structure of North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and Sea of Cortez fin whales, Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus 1758): analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear loci. Molecular Ecology 7, 585599.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bourret, V.J.R., Macé, M.R.J.M. and Crouau-Roy, B. (2007) Genetic variation and population structure of western Mediterranean and northern Atlantic Stenella coeruleoalba populations inferred from microsatellite data. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 87, 265269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruford, M.W. and Wayne, R.K. (1993) Microsatellites and their application to population genetic studies. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development 3, 939943.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calzada, N., Lockyer, C.H. and Aguilar, A. (1994) Age and sex composition of the striped dolphin die-off in the western Mediterranean. Marine Mammal Science 10, 299310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Excoffier, L., Laval, G. and Schneider, S. (2005) Arlequin ver. 3.0: an integrated software package for population genetics data analysis. Evolutionary Bioinformatics Online 1, 4750.Google Scholar
Galov, A., Lauc, G., Gomerčić, T., Kocijan, I., Đuras Gomerčić, M., Bašić, I. and Gomerčić, H. (2006) Genetic diversity of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) from Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea revealed by microsatellite analysis. In Besendorfer, V. and Klobučar, G.I.V. (eds) Proceedings and Abstracts of Ninth Croatian Biological Congress with International Participation, Rovinj, Croatia, 23–29 September 2006. Zagreb: Croatian Biological Society, pp. 293295.Google Scholar
Galov, A. (2007) Genetic diversity of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and notes on genetic diversity of other cetacean species in the Adriatic Sea. PhD thesis. University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.Google Scholar
García-Martínez, J., Moya, A., Raga, J.A. and Latorre, A. (1999) Genetic differentiation in the striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba from European waters according to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction analysis. Molecular Ecology 8, 10691073.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gaspari, S., Azzellino, A., Airoldi, S. and Hoelzel, R. (2007) Social kin associations and genetic structuring of striped dolphin populations (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the Mediterranean Sea. Molecular Ecology 16, 29222933.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gomerčić, H., Huber, Đ., Gomerčić, T., Gomerčić, A., Škrtić, D. and Vuković, S. (1994) The striped dolphin (Stenella caeruleoalba, Meyen 1833) for the first time found in the Adriatic Sea in 1991. In Gomerčić, H. (ed.) Proceedings and Abstracts of The Fifth Congress of Croatian Biologists, Pula, Croatia, 3–7 October 1994 Zagreb: Croatian Biological Society, pp. 340341.Google Scholar
Gomercic, H., Curas, M., Lucic, H., Gomercic, T., Huber, C., Ckrtic, D., Cukrovic, S., Galov, A. and Vukovic, S. (2002) Cetacean mortality in Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea in period from 1990 till February 2002. In Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on the Zoogeography and Ecology of Greece and Adjacent Regions, Thessaloniki, 22–25 May 2002. The Hellenic Zoological Society, p. 42.Google Scholar
Hall, T.A. (1999) BioEdit: a user-friendly biological sequence alignment editor and analysis program for Windows 95/98/NT. Nucleic Acids Symposium Series 41, 9598.Google Scholar
Hoelzel, A.R. and Green, A. (1998) PCR protocols and population analysis by direct DNA sequencing and PCR-based DNA fingerprinting. In Hoelzel, A.R. (ed.) Molecular genetic analysis of populations, a practical approach. 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 201235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohn, M.H. and Wayne, R.K. (1997) Facts from feces revisited. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 12, 223227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Natoli, A., Peddemors, V.M. and Hoelzel, R. (2004) Population structure and speciation in the genus Tursiops based on microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA analyses. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 17, 363375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nei, M. (1987) Molecular evolutionary genetics. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. and Demma, M. (1994) Guida dei Mammiferi Marini del Mediterraneo. Padova: Franco Muzzio Editore.Google Scholar
Podestà, M. and Bortolotto, A. (2001) Il Progetto Spiaggiamenti del Centro Studi Cetacei: analisi dei risultati di 11 anni di attività. Natura—Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano 90, 145158.Google Scholar
Raymond, M. and Rousset, F. (1995) GENEPOP (version 1.2): population genetics software for exact tests and ecumenicism. Journal of Heredity 86, 248249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rooney, A.P., Merritt, D.B. and Derr, J.N. (1999) Microsatellite diversity in captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Journal of Heredity 90, 228231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shinohara, M., Domingo-Roura, X. and Takenaka, O. (1997) Microsatellites in the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus. Molecular Ecology 6, 695696.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slooten, E. (1991) Age, growth, and reproduction in Hector's dolphins. Canadian Journal of Zoology 69, 16891700.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, J.D., Higgins, D.G. and Gibson, T.J. (1994) CLUSTAL W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. Nucleic Acids Research 22, 46734680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valsecchi, E. and Amos, W. (1996) Microsatellite markers for the study of cetacean populations. Molecular Ecology 5, 151156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valsecchi, E., Amos, W., Raga, J.A., Podestà, M. and Sherwin, W. (2004) The effects of inbreeding on mortality during morbillivirus outbreak in the Mediterranean striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba). Animal Conservation 7, 139146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar