International conference on Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea environment, Thessaloniki, 29 May – 1 June 2003

Identification of fisheries stocks using genetics
A case study from the Mediterranean – Black Sea system: the European anchovy

Antonios Magoulas,
Institute of Marine Biology of Crete
Department of Genetics and Molecular Biotechnology

Abstract

The advent of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) revolutionized the studies of genetic variation in marine organisms. This technique allows scoring genetic variation using minute amounts of tissue, as well as historical samples, and can be automated. This technique is applied nowadays for the analysis of the two most widely employed genetic markers: mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite DNA. The use of these markers allowed detection of population substructuring in several marine species.

The system eastern Mediterranean – Black Sea has unique characteristics, and constituted the theatre of large-scale natural experiments and offers unprecedented opportunities to study the population structure and demographic history of marine species. This was demonstrated in the case of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), the mtDNA analysis of which revealed a population structure uncommon for a marine species. In combination with geological, hydrological, and paleoclimate and paleoceanographic data this analysis allowed also reconstruction of the population history of this species. This is a good example of how data from different disciplines can effectively complement each other and provide more complete and confident information for studying marine ecosystems.