A newly published article describes the genetic stratification of shrimp

Pandalus borealis. Picture: Svanhildur Egilsdóttir

A newly published article describes the genetic stratification of inshore shrimp (common in shallower water) and offshore shrimp (northern shrimp, Pandalus borealis) populations in northern Iceland. Reduced representative genome sequence data was collected from samples across Arnarfjörður bay in the North-West, Skjálfandi bay in the North, and out to Kolbeinsey island, some 100km off the northern coast of Iceland. Click here to read the article. 

Little to no difference was found within inshore shrimp, but a clear gradient was seen between inshore and offshore shrimp. The study also found that a considerable amount of inshore shrimp congregates outside of Skjálfandi bay. Despite an extensive boreal distribution, little genetic diversity has been detected in northern shrimp to date. However, this study found a strong relationship between bottom sea temperature and the identified genotypic diversity across samples from Skjálfandi to Kolbeinsey.

This described standing genetic diversity could prove to be an important factor for the northern shrimp should long term changes in sea temperatures lead to increased selection pressure.