Deacon rockfish population genomics

Little is known about intraspecific variation within the deacon rockfish (Sebastes diaconus), a recently described species found in the northeast Pacific Ocean. We investigated population structure among fish sampled from two nearshore reefs (Siletz Reef and Seal Rock) and one offshore site (Stonewall Bank) within a <50 km2 area off the Oregon coast. Fish from the three sample sites exhibited small but statistically significant differences based genetic variation at >15,000 neutral loci, whether analyzed independently or classified into nearshore and offshore groups. Male and females were readily distinguished using genetic data and 92 outlier loci were associated with sex, potentially indicating differential selection between males and females. This study is the first step towards understanding intraspecific variation within the Deacon Rockfish and the potential management implications.