Genetic diversity, population genetic structure and isolation by distance (IBD) were assessed in a viviparous coastal shark (the lemon shark Negaprion brevirostris) across 8 western Atlantic samples spaced between ~150 and 7000 km apart. Juveniles (N = 325) were sequenced at 2 mitochondrial loci (1729 bp) and typed at 9 nuclear encoded microsatellite loci. Analysis of mitochondrial sequences revealed higher diversity at low-latitude island samples compared to highlatitude continental samples, consistent with an equatorial center-of-origin for this species. There were 5 distinct groups across our sampling areas (Brazil, Louisiana, Cape Canaveral, Gullivan Bay and the Florida Keys/Bahamas/Virgin Islands; pairwise Φ ST = 0.07−0.87) and all but one pair of the 8 samples also exhibited significantly different haplotype frequencies (pairwise F ST = 0.10−0.51). Bayesian analysis indicated that the Brazil and Louisiana samples were generally isolated from the others, but most of the rest were diverged although still connected or recently connected by migration. In contrast, structure was only detected between the most distant sample (Brazil) and all of the others using the microsatellite markers (pairwise F ST = 0.03−0.06). There was a significant pattern of IBD for all markers and measures of genetic differentiation (r 2 = 0.65−0.81, p < 0.05− 0.01), but not after removing the Brazil sample. There was evidence that glacial and post-glacial historical processes and sex-specific differences in philopatry affected IBD. Because of the relatively fine-scale population structure of this and other large coastal shark species more attention should be paid to local processes in the conservation and fisheries management of these species.

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The bluntnose sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus) is a widely distributed species found in tropical and temperate waters of every ocean, yet we know relatively little about their basic biology including their life history and population structure. From 2003-2007, we collected over 300 biopsy samples from sixgills during research operations in Puget Sound, WA, USA. Genotypic data using ten polymorphic microsatellites were used to describe sixgill genetic diversity, relatedness and mating pattern. Diversity within sixgills was found to be moderate with an average observed heterozygosity of 0.45, an average expected heterozygosity of 0.61, an average of 12 alleles per locus, and an average allelic richness of eight within microsatellite loci. Our data suggests all of the sampled individuals come from one intermixing population, and we found no historical evidence of significant population bottlenecks. Many of the sharks were sampled using longline techniques with several sharks captured at the same time and place. Similarly, multiple sharks were sampled on several occasions during research events at the Seattle Aquarium. The proportion of individuals that were full-or half-siblings was high among sharks sampled at the same time and place (range 0.65-0.87). Analysis of the genetic relationship between one large female washed ashore and 71 of her near-term pups suggested a polyandrous mating system with as many as nine males contributing to her offspring. This study is the first to investigate genetic diversity, relatedness and paternity within sixgill sharks and sheds light on important conservation implications for this little known shark population.

Sand tiger sharks (Carcharias taurus) have an unusual mode of reproduction, whereby the first embryos in each of the paired uteri to reach a certain size ('hatchlings') consume all of their smaller siblings during gestation ('embryonic cannibalism' or EC). If females commonly mate with multiple males ('behavioural polyandry') then litters could initially have multiple sires. It is possible, however, that EC could exclude of all but one of these sires from producing offspring thus influencing the species genetic mating system ('genetic monogamy'). Here, we use microsatellite DNA profiling of mothers and their litters (n ¼ 15, from two to nine embryos per litter) to quantify the frequency of behavioural and genetic polyandry in this system. We conservatively estimate that nine of the females we examined (60%) were behaviourally polyandrous. The genetic mating system was characterized by assessing sibling relationships between hatchlings and revealed only 40 per cent genetic polyandry (i.e. hatchlings were full siblings in 60% of litters). The discrepancy stemmed from three females that were initially fertilized by multiple males but only produced hatchlings with one of them. This reveals that males can be excluded even after fertilizing ova and that some instances of genetic monogamy in this population arise from the reduction in litter size by EC. More research is needed on how cryptic post-copulatory and post-zygotic processes contribute to determining paternity and bridging the behavioural and genetic mating systems of viviparous species.

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