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So proud of this collaborative work between @azti_brta @EU_ScienceHub @EERCSalford @CefasGovUK @MarineInst @marinescotland and @IEOoceanografia on setting the basics for a genetic informed anglerfish management. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.10.430581v1
We sampled ~700 white anglerfish throughout the Norteast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea and performed analyses based on thousand of genome-wide SNPs and mitochondrial markers. We found that:
i) the white anglerfish forms a genetically homogeneous population throughout the Atlantic that is genetically distinguished from the Mediterranean one, potentially challenging the three-stock assessment/management strategies within the Atlantic
ii) some "white anglerfish samples", despite having white peritoneum (the morphological character used to differentiate both species) are indeed black anglerfish samples, suggesting that white anglerfish assessment is including samples from another species
iii) white and black anglerfish hybridize!! The presence of hybrids could be affectcing SSB estimations (if hibrids are considerably less fit) and can have critical implications for the conservation of both species... we are currently digging into that.
These results are very relevant for white (and potentially black) anglerfish assessment and management and highlight the benefits of appling genetics to fisheries management, as hidden but critical phenomena can be discovered. @ICES_ASC @DickeyCollas @project_impress @FAOpesca
