Shaping species conservation strategies using mtDNA analysis: The case of the elusive Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus)

Karamanlidis, Alexandros A.; Gaughran, Stephen J.; Aguilar, Àlex; Dendrinos, Panagiotis; Huber, Đuro; Pires, Rosa; Schultz, Jennifer K.; Skrbinšek, Tomaž; Amato, George

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.11.014

Cited by 22 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Moreover, the sequencing of MMS specimens held at the Estacion Biologica de Doñana (Table S1) and originating from the Cabo Blanco 1997 die‐off, enabled the identification of two haplotypes that were not described in this colony by Karamanlidis et al . (). We speculate that the die‐off, which reduced the size of the Cabo Blanco population by two‐thirds (Hernández et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The ratio between haplotype numbers and the total number of samples (7/204 = 0.03) was the same as that reported in Karamanlidis et al . () for 165 recent samples covering the current species’ range. Such low levels of mitochondrial diversity correspond to levels observed in other mammalian species at the brink of extinction (Rosel and Rojas‐Bracho , Rosenbaum et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The dotted box represents the timeframe (1990–2012) covered in Karamanlidis et al . (). The red asterisk marks the mass die‐off at Cabo Blanco, North Atlantic Ocean, in 1997.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…We completed our data set with the 165 sequences produced by Karamanlidis et al . () (GenBank accession numbers: KT935307‐935311), covering the extant species’ range (Greece [121], Croatia [2], Libya [1], Western Sahara [38] and Madeira [3]). Nucleotide sequences were visually aligned with BioEdit 7.1.3 (Hall ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A more recent study investigating the variability in the mitochondrial control region showed that MMS were among the most genetically depauperate mammals ever reported, with the existence of only five, closely related control region haplotypes (Karamanlidis et al . ). Coupled with the sensitivity of isolated colonies of MMS to stochastic events including toxic algal blooms and/or viral outbreaks (Hernández et al .…”

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confidence: 97%

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Insights from 180 years of mitochondrial variability in the endangered Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus)

Gaubert

Justy

Mο

et al. 2019

Marine Mammal Science

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Mediterranean monk seals (MMS) are among the most endangered marine mammals on Earth. We screened mitochondrial variability (control region [CR1] and mitogenomes) of the species through a 180‐yr timeframe and extended by 20% (n = 205) the number of samples from a previous investigation, including historical specimens from 1833 to 1975. Although we detected two new, rare CR1 haplotypes, genetic diversity remained extremely low. Fully resolved haplotype median network and rarefaction analysis both suggested low probability for further unscreened haplotypes. There was no clear phylogeographic structure across the 12 marine subdivisions covered by the species’ range. Haplotypes previously considered diagnostic of the extant North Atlantic and eastern Mediterranean populations had their distributions extended into the western Mediterranean and the North Atlantic, respectively, by both historical and recent samples. Our study suggests that MMS have been genetically depauperate since at least the mid‐19th century, and that the massive 1997 die‐off in Western Sahara (North Atlantic) could have caused local haplotype extinctions. Our results support the hypothesis of past metapopulation dynamics across the species range, where the current segregation into geographically distant and genetically depauperate breeding populations (i.e., North Atlantic and eastern Mediterranean Sea) derives from the combined effects of historical extinctions, genetic drift on small breeding groups, and persistently low levels of genetic diversity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The dotted box represents the timeframe (1990–2012) covered in Karamanlidis et al . (). The red asterisk marks the mass die‐off at Cabo Blanco, North Atlantic Ocean, in 1997.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 97%

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