We used microsatellite loci to understand the current population genetics of Japanese harbor seals, and found that they were subdivided into two distinct populations, one in Erimo and the other in eastern Hokkaido, despite being only 150 km apart and having no obvious geographical boundaries between them. Strong population subdivision between the two areas may be due to the small number of haul‐out sites and population size, and that a single habitat type is used for haul‐out sites in Japan. Also, at Erimo, there are numerous rocky reefs at a single haul‐out site that stretch up to 1.3 km offshore from land, while 10 haul‐out sites in eastern Hokkaido, separated by a maximum of 30 km, are interspersed along 75 km of the coast. The direction in which the rocky reefs stretch away from land or in which the haul‐out sites are facing may be limiting the movement of Japanese harbor seals and causing strong population subdivision between Erimo and eastern Hokkaido. No recent genetic bottlenecks were detected, although the seals in Erimo and eastern Hokkaido were reported to have experienced declines in population size over the past few decades.

中文翻译：

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日本斑海豹的当前种群遗传学：在一个小区域内发现两个不同的种群

我们使用微卫星基因座了解了日本斑海豹的当前种群遗传学，发现它们被细分为两个不同的种群，一个在埃里莫，另一个在北海道东部，尽管相距仅150公里，并且它们之间没有明显的地理边界。这两个地区之间的人口细分很大，可能是由于少量的搬迁地点和人口规模，以及在日本将单个生境类型用于搬迁地点。此外，在埃里莫（Erimo），一个拖网礁石就位于离陆地最远1.3公里处的众多礁石上，而北海道东部的10个拖网礁石则相距最大30公里，沿75公里处散布着海岸 礁石从陆地上伸出的方向或拖运地点所面对的方向可能会限制日本海豹的活动，并导致埃里莫和北海道东部之间的人口大量分裂。尽管据报道在过去的几十年中，埃里莫和北海道东部的海豹种群数量减少，但最近没有发现遗传瓶颈。