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Genetic diversity of Chelonibia caretta, commensal barnacles of the endangered hawksbill sea turtle Eretmochelys imbricata from the Caribbean (Puerto Rico)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2009

Hernán Torres-Pratts ,
Michelle T. Schärer  and
Nikolaos V. Schizas
Hernán Torres-Pratts
Affiliation:
Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Isla Magueyes Laboratories, PO Box 9013, Mayagüez, PR 00681-9013
Michelle T. Schärer
Affiliation:
Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Isla Magueyes Laboratories, PO Box 9013, Mayagüez, PR 00681-9013
Nikolaos V. Schizas*
Affiliation:
Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Isla Magueyes Laboratories, PO Box 9013, Mayagüez, PR 00681-9013
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: N.V. Schizas, Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Isla Magueyes Laboratories, PO Box 9013, Mayagüez, PR 00681-9013, email: n_schizas@cima.uprm.edu
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Abstract

The patterns of mitochondrial genetic diversity were studied in Chelonibia caretta, commensal barnacles of the endangered hawksbill sea turtle Eretmochelys imbricata from Mona Island of Puerto Rico. Two mitochondrial genes were sequenced: the large subunit of ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) and the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI). Haplotypic diversity (h) for 16S (N = 34) and COI (N = 26) varied from 0.763 to 0.468, respectively. The nucleotide diversity (π) of 16S/COI (0.00284/0.0013) of C. caretta was low compared to all other published sequences from population studies of barnacles attached to fixed substrate. However, the estimated levels of π from C. caretta were comparable to those reported from C. testudinaria, an epibiont barnacle on loggerhead turtles. Analysis of molecular variance and parsimony network analysis of the sampled turtle epibionts from Mona Island indicated that they are genetically homogeneous, irrespective of the host or its gender. Albeit that the sampling size is small, our results are consistent with the general prediction that higher rates of dispersal reduce population divergence and estimates of nucleotide diversity. Conservation concerns are raised about the status of Chelonibia caretta whose host (the hawksbill sea turtle) has been included in the Endangered Species List.

Keywords

turtle barnacleshawksbill turtlemtDNAPuerto RicoCaribbean
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Issue 4 , June 2009 , pp. 719 - 725
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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