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Understanding what we cannot see: a genetic approach to the mating system of the Southern Lanternshark, Etmopterus granulosus

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Abstract

The Southern Lanternshark, Etmopterus granulosus, is a deep-sea shark commonly found throughout the oceans of the southern hemisphere and frequently caught as bycatch in deep-sea fisheries. Despite its common occurrence, little is known about this species’ life history and reproductive biology. Here, we develop species-specific microsatellite markers to better understand the mating system of E. granulosus. Eighteen litters were opportunistically collected as bycatch along the Madagascar Ridge, Walter’s Shoal, and Southern Indian Ocean Ridge. Novel microsatellite loci were used to test for the presence and frequency of multiple paternity and morphological data were obtained from mothers to examine whether litter size or polyandry correlated with female size. Multiple paternity was found in 33% of litters, but no significant relationship between either litter size or the occurrence of polyandry and female size was found, although some adult individuals were found to have high internal relatedness. The frequency of multiple paternity in conjunction with these other factors could be indicators of mating between relatives or a reduction in population size due to fishing pressure.

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Photo credit M. Nehmens

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Data availability statement

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available in GenBank repository. GenBank accession numbers included in Table 1.

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Acknowledgements

Microsatellite data collection was carried out in the Field Museum’s Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution operated with support from the Prtizker Foundation. The Dr. Earl H. Myers and Ethel M. Myers Oceanographic and Marine Biology Trust, and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories provided financial support for this study. This study was also supported by the National Science Foundation’s Jaws and Backbone: Chondrichthyan Phylogeny and a Spine for the Vertebrate Tree of Life, grant: DEB 01132229 to Gavin Naylor, University of Florida. We thank Paul Clerkin for on-vessel specimen processing and PSRC lab members. We thank the reviewers of the manuscript for their contributions, both for taking the time to review our manuscript and others, as well as their suggestions and edits that improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Pacific Shark Research Center, 8272 Moss Landing Rd., Moss Landing, CA, 95039, USA

    Melissa C. Nehmens & David A. Ebert

  2. Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution, Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, USA

    Kevin A. Feldheim

  3. Department of Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA

    David A. Ebert

  4. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Private Bag 1015, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    David A. Ebert

Authors
  1. Melissa C. Nehmens
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  2. Kevin A. Feldheim
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Contributions

MCN and DAE collected samples. MCN and KAF collected genetic data. All authors contributed to data analysis and manuscript preparation.

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Correspondence to Melissa C. Nehmens.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

The organisms in this study collected during 2012 were collected under IACUC permit #801 issued by San Jose State University. The organisms collected in 2014 were collected under IACUC permit #801 and IACUC permit #2014-D. The shift in permitting was due to a renewal under a different collection type for the laboratory as all specimens were collected post-mortem as incidental bycatch in both years. Adherence to all national and international guidelines for animal care was followed, including proper permitting for international shipment of biological specimens.

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Nehmens, M.C., Feldheim, K.A. & Ebert, D.A. Understanding what we cannot see: a genetic approach to the mating system of the Southern Lanternshark, Etmopterus granulosus. Mar Biol 167, 139 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03751-5

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