Understanding the population dynamics of highly mobile, widely distributed, oceanic sharks, many of which are overexploited, is necessary to aid their conservation management. We investigated the global population genomics of tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier), a circumglobally distributed, apex predator displaying remarkable behavioral versatility in its diet, habitat use (near coastal, coral reef, pelagic), and individual movement patterns (spatially resident to long-distance migrations). We genotyped 242 tiger sharks from 10 globally distributed locations at more than 2000 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Although this species often conducts massive distance migrations, the data show strong genetic differentiation at both neutral (FST = 0.125–0.144) and candidate outlier loci (FST = 0.570–0.761) between western Atlantic and Indo-Pacific sharks, suggesting the potential for adaptation to the environments specific to these oceanic regions. Within these regions, there was mixed support for population differentiation between northern and southern hemispheres in the western Atlantic, and none for structure within the Indian Ocean. Notably, the results demonstrate a low level of population differentiation of tiger sharks from the remote Hawaiian archipelago compared with sharks from the Indian Ocean (FST = 0.003–0.005, P < 0.01). Given concerns about biodiversity loss and marine ecosystem impacts caused by overfishing of oceanic sharks in the midst of rapid environmental change, our results suggest it imperative that international fishery management prioritize conservation of the evolutionary potential of the highly genetically differentiated Atlantic and Indo-Pacific populations of this unique apex predator. Furthermore, we suggest targeted management attention to tiger sharks in the Hawaiian archipelago based on a precautionary biodiversity conservation perspective.

中文翻译：

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高度迁徙和栖息地多才多艺的顶级捕食者虎鲨 (Galeocerdo cuvier) 中全球种群结构的基因组评估

了解高度流动、分布广泛的海洋鲨鱼的种群动态，其中许多已被过度捕捞，对于帮助它们进行保护管理是必要的。我们调查了虎鲨 (Galeocerdo cuvier) 的全球种群基因组学，这是一种全球分布的顶级捕食者，在其饮食、栖息地利用（近海岸、珊瑚礁、远洋）和个体运动模式（空间常驻到长远距离迁移）。我们对来自全球分布的 10 个地点的 242 条虎鲨进行了超过 2000 个单核苷酸多态性的基因分型。尽管该物种经常进行大规模的远距离迁徙，但数据显示西大西洋和​​印度太平洋鲨鱼之间的中性 (FST = 0.125–0.144) 和候选异常位点 (FST = 0.570–0.761) 存在强烈的遗传分化，表明适应这些海洋区域特定环境的潜力。在这些区域内，对西大西洋北半球和南半球之间的人口分化有不同的支持，而对印度洋内部的结构则没有。值得注意的是，结果表明，与印度洋的鲨鱼相比，来自偏远夏威夷群岛的虎鲨的种群分化程度较低（FST = 0.003-0.005，P < 0.01）。鉴于对环境迅速变化中对海洋鲨鱼的过​​度捕捞造成的生物多样性丧失和海洋生态系统影响的担忧，我们的研究结果表明，国际渔业管理必须优先保护这种独特的顶级捕食者的高度遗传分化的大西洋和印度太平洋种群的进化潜力。此外，我们建议基于预防性生物多样性保护的观点，对夏威夷群岛的虎鲨进行有针对性的管理关注。