Data from: Matching oceanography and genetics at the basin scale. Seascape connectivity of the Mediterranean shore crab in the Adriatic Sea

Investigating the interactions between the physical environment and early
life history is crucial to understand the mechanisms that shape the
genetic structure of marine populations. Here, we assessed the genetic
differentiation in a species with larval dispersal, the Mediterranean
shore crab (Carcinus aestuarii) in the Adriatic Sea (central
Mediterranean), and we investigated the role of oceanic circulation in
shaping population structure. To this end, we screened 11 polymorphic
microsatellite loci from 431 individuals collected at eight different
sites. We found a weak, yet significant, genetic structure into three
major clusters: a northern Adriatic group, a central Adriatic group, and
one group including samples from southern Adriatic and Ionian seas.
Genetic analyses were compared, under a seascape genetics approach, with
estimates of potential larval connectivity obtained with a coupled
physical-biological model that integrates a water circulation model and a
description of biological traits affecting dispersal. The cross-validation
of the results of the two approaches supported the view that genetic
differentiation reflects an oceanographic subdivision of the Adriatic Sea
into three sub-basins, with circulation patterns allowing the exchange of
larvae through permanent connections linking north Adriatic sites and
ephemeral connections like those linking the central Adriatic with
northern and southern locations.

探究物理环境与早期生活史之间的相互作用，对于阐明塑造海洋种群遗传结构的内在机制至关重要。本研究以具有幼体扩散能力的地中海滨蟹（Carcinus aestuarii）为研究对象，在亚得里亚海（地中海中部海域）开展实验，评估其遗传分化水平，并探究海洋环流对种群结构形成的调控作用。为此，我们对采自8个不同采样位点的431个个体，开展了11个多态性微卫星位点（microsatellite loci）的基因分型分析。研究结果显示，该种群存在微弱但显著的遗传结构，可划分为3个主要类群：亚得里亚海北部类群、亚得里亚海中部类群，以及包含亚得里亚海南部与爱奥尼亚海采样样本的类群。本研究采用海洋景观遗传学（seascape genetics）方法，将遗传分析结果与通过耦合物理-生物模型估算的潜在幼体连通性进行对比；该耦合模型整合了水循环模型与影响幼体扩散的生物性状参数。对两种研究方法的结果进行交叉验证后，结果支持以下结论：种群遗传分化反映了亚得里亚海被海洋环流划分为3个次级海盆的格局；其中，亚得里亚海北部采样点间存在永久的幼体交换通道，而亚得里亚海中部与北部、南部区域之间仅存在临时性的幼体连接通路。