Historical DNA documents long‐distance natal homing in marine fish |
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| Authors: | Sara Bonanomi Nina Overgaard Therkildsen Anja Retzel Rasmus Berg Hedeholm Martin Wæver Pedersen Dorte Meldrup Christophe Pampoulie Jakob Hemmer‐Hansen Peter Grønkjær Einar Eg Nielsen |
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| Institution: | 1. Section 2. for Marine Living Resources, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Silkeborg, Denmark;3. Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland;4. Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA;5. Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland;6. for Marine Living Resources, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Charlottenlund, Denmark;7. Marine Research Institute, Skúlagata 4, 101 Reykjav?k, Iceland;8. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark |
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| Abstract: | The occurrence of natal homing in marine fish remains a fundamental question in fish ecology as its unequivocal demonstration requires tracking of individuals from fertilization to reproduction. Here, we provide evidence of long‐distance natal homing (>1000 km) over more than 60 years in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), through genetic analysis of archived samples from marked and recaptured individuals. Using a high differentiation single‐nucleotide polymorphism assay, we demonstrate that the vast majority of cod tagged in West Greenland and recaptured on Icelandic spawning grounds belonged to the Iceland offshore population, strongly supporting a hypothesis of homing. The high degree of natal fidelity observed provides the evolutionary settings for development of locally adapted populations in marine fish and emphasize the need to consider portfolio effects in marine fisheries management strategies. |
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| Keywords: | historical DNA marine fish natal homing tagging data |
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