S.diploproa_recruit_genotypes

Microsatellite (20 loci) genotype data from 491 juvenile Sebastes diploproa recruiting to Oregon in September 2013

Data from: Long-term aggregation of larval fish siblings during dispersal along an open coast

Pelagic dispersal of most benthic marine organisms is a fundamental driver of population distribution and persistence and is thought to lead to highly mixed populations. However, the mechanisms driving dispersal pathways of larvae along open coastlines are largely unknown. To examine the degree to which early stages can remain spatially coherent during dispersal, we measured genetic relatedness within a large pulse of newly recruited splitnose rockfish (Sebastes diploproa), a live-bearing fish whose offspring settle along the US Pacific Northwest coast after spending up to a year in the pelagic environment. A total of 11.6% of the recruits in a single recruitment pulse were siblings, providing the first evidence for persistent aggregation throughout a long dispersal period. Such protracted aggregation has profound implications for our understanding of larval dispersal, population connectivity, and gene flow within demersal marine populations

S.diploproa_referencePop_genotypes

Microsatellite (20 loci) genotipe data of 94 adult Sebastes diploproa collected off the Oregon Coast in May-July 2015

Validation of a Molecular Sex Marker In Three Sturgeons From Eastern North America

Despite the importance of sex-specific information for sturgeon conservation and management, sex identification has been a major challenge outside of mature adults on spawning grounds. Recent work identified a sex-specific locus (AllWSex2) that appears to be broadly conserved across many Acipenserids, but the assay was not validated for all species within the family. We tested the AllWSex2 marker in three sturgeon taxa (shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum, Gulf sturgeon A. oxyrhinchus desotoi, and Atlantic sturgeon A. oxyrhinchus oxyrhinchus) from the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Coasts of North America to validate its use for sex identification. Our results indicate AllWSex2 is conserved in all three taxa, presenting a new opportunity to derive sex-specific information from tissue samples, which are routinely collected from these taxa. We found high concordance (range: 97–100%) between genotypic and phenotypic/histological methods, suggesting the assay is broadly effective. However, the small amount of discordance between the methods (\u3c 3%) suggests further refinement may be possible