Genome-wide SNPs detect no evidence of genetic population structure for reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) in southern Mozambique

Little is known about the extent of genetic connectivity along continuous coastlines in manta rays or whether site visitation is influenced by relatedness. Such information is pertinent to defining population boundaries and understanding localised dispersal patterns and behaviour. Here, we use 3057 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to evaluate population genetic structure and assess levels of relatedness at aggregation sites of reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) in southern Mozambique (n = 114). Contrary to indications of limited dispersal along the southern Mozambican coastline inferred from photo identification and telemetry studies, our results show no evidence of population structure (non-significant FST