Population genetic analysis of the abalone Haliotis fulgens (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in Baja California, Mexico

Population genetic structure was analyzed for Haliotis fulgens in the central part of Baja California, Mexico. The study was carried out based on five abalone sites using electrophoresis analysis. Allozyme data for seven loci from individuals within abalone sites were obtained, and F statistics were used to assess population structure. Allozyme variation was low, but more similar than the one reported in other haliotids. Malate dehydrogenase (MDH-1 and MDH-2) and glutamate oxalate transaminase (GOT) in some population were fixed. There were not observed significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium among 31 comparisons made over all loci and all populations. F statistics did not indicate departure from random mating or evidence of genetic structuring of the H. fulgens populations, however F-IT and F-IS data showed that inbreeding occurs inside abalone sites. Additionally, cluster analysis and Mantel tests showed that genetic differences among abalone populations were not accumulative geographically. Data do not suggest that H. fulgens populations are genetically isolated from one another. The five populations formed a homogeneous group respect to allele frequencies at six of the seven loci analyzed. Therefore, they cannot be considered as different stocks. The results suggest that gene flow along the distribution of abalone banks could be variable depending of the coastal topography, dominant swells. and driving winds, which determine the local coastal hydrodynamic and consequently the level of larval interchange among populations.