The Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) is endemic to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Throughout its distribution, both geographic distance and environmental variation may contribute to population structure of the species. In this study, we follow a seascape genetics approach to investigate population differentiation of Atlantic spotted dolphins based on a large worldwide dataset and the relationship with marine environmental variables. The results revealed that the Atlantic spotted dolphin exhibits population genetic structure across its distribution based on mitochondrial DNA control region (mtDNA-CR) data. Analyses based on the contemporary landscape suggested, at both the individual and population level, that the population genetic structure is consistent with the isolation-by-distance model. However, because geography and environmental matrices were correlated, and because in some, but not all analyses, we found a significant effect for the environment, we cannot rule out the addition contribution of environmental factors in structuring genetic variation. Future analyses based on nuclear data are needed to evaluate whether local processes, such as social structure and some level of philopatry within populations, may be contributing to the associations among genetic structure, geographic, and environmental distance.

中文翻译：

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基于线粒体 DNA 的大西洋斑点海豚 (Stenella frontalis) 的海景遗传学

大西洋斑点海豚（Stenella frontalis）是大西洋热带、亚热带和暖温带水域的特有种。在其分布过程中，地理距离和环境变化都可能影响该物种的种群结构。在这项研究中，我们采用海景遗传学方法，基于全球大型数据集以及与海洋环境变量的关系来研究大西洋斑点海豚的种群分化。结果表明，基于线粒体 DNA 控制区 (mtDNA-CR) 数据，大西洋斑点海豚在其分布中表现出种群遗传结构。基于当代景观的分析表明，在个体和种群水平上，种群遗传结构与距离隔离模型一致。然而，由于地理和环境矩阵是相关的，并且因为在某些（但不是所有）分析中，我们发现了对环境的显着影响，因此我们不能排除环境因素在构建遗传变异中的额外贡献。未来需要基于核数据进行分析，以评估局部过程，例如社会结构和人群中某种程度的慈善事业，是否可能有助于遗传结构、地理和环境距离之间的关联。