Data from: Nuclear and mitochondrial patterns of population structure in North Pacific false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens)

False killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) are large Delphinids typically
found in deep water far offshore. However, in the Hawaiian Archipelago
there are two resident island-associated populations of false killer
whales, one in the waters around the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) and one
in the waters around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). We use
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences and genotypes from 16
nuclear (nucDNA) microsatellite loci from 206 individuals to examine
levels of differentiation among the two island-associated populations and
offshore animals from the central and eastern North Pacific. Both mtDNA
and nucDNA exhibit highly significant differentiation between populations,
confirming limited gene flow in both sexes. The mtDNA haplotypes exhibit a
strong pattern of phylogeographic concordance, with island-associated
populations sharing three closely related haplotypes not found elsewhere
in the Pacific. However, nucDNA data suggests that NWHI animals are at
least as differentiated from MHI animals as they are from offshore
animals. The patterns of differentiation revealed by the two marker types
suggest that the island-associated false killer whale populations likely
share a common colonization history, but have limited contemporary gene
flow.