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（larval dispersal）特性的物种——地中海中部亚得里亚海的地中海滨蟹（Carcinus aestuarii）为研究对象，评估其遗传分化情况，并探究海流对其种群结构的塑造作用。为此，我们对8个不同采样点的431个个体进行了11个多态性微卫星位点（microsatellite loci）的筛选与基因分型。研究结果显示，该种群存在微弱但显著的遗传结构，可划分为三个主要类群：亚得里亚海北部类群、亚得里亚海中部类群，以及一个包含亚得里亚海南部和爱奥尼亚海采样样本的类群。本研究基于海洋景观遗传学（seascape genetics）研究框架，将遗传分析结果与通过耦合物理-生物模型（coupled physical-biological model）估算的潜在幼体连通性进行对比：该模型整合了海流模型（water circulation model）以及影响扩散的生物性状描述。对两种方法的结果进行交叉验证后，结果支持以下观点：遗传分化反映了亚得里亚海被海流划分为三个次级海盆的海洋地理分区特征；海流模式使得亚得里亚海北部采样点之间存在持续的幼体交换，而亚得里亚海中部与北部、南部区域之间则仅存在临时性的幼体连通渠道。