Recently published article

Figure. Potential barriers to gene flow for Nephrops norvegicus detected with a bootstrap support greater than 70%.

Recently, the article: „Microsatellites obtained using high throughput sequencing and a novel microsatellite genotyping method reveals population genetic structure in Norway Lobster, Nephrops norvegicus“ was published in the Journal of Sea Research. One of the co-authors is Jónas Páll Jónasson, scientist at the Demersal Division of Marine and Freshwater Research Institute.

Nephrops is a commercially valuable species in Europe with annual catches of 60 thousand tonnes. Over 40 management areas exist from the Mediterranean area north to Iceland. In this study the population structure of Nephrops was estimated with a novel genotyping methods. Microsatellites grouped Nephrops into four clusters across their distribution which does not match current delineations of multiple management units. The areas Breiðamerkurdjúp south east of Iceland and Porcupine Bank deep west of Ireland didn’t differ significantly. Those stock with others around Ireland clustered together from stocks in the North Sea and from more southerly locations. The results are in accordance with known larval drift from southeasterly locations of species like the monkfish (Lophius piscatorius) (Solmundsson et al. 2010) and an older study showing lack of population structure of Nephrops in Iceland and adjacent waters (Pampoulie et al., 2011). 

Link to the paper