Genetic diversity and structuring in the arapaima (Osteoglossiformes, Osteoglossidae) population reveal differences between the Amazon and the Tocantins-Araguaia basins.

• Autor(a) principal: NOGUEIRA, F.
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: RÊGO, P. S. do, QUEIROZ, H., VENERE, P., VARELA, E. S., SAMPAIO, I., SCHNEIDER, H., ARARIPE, J.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da EMBRAPA (Repository Open Access to Scientific Information from EMBRAPA - Alice)
• Texto Completo: http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/handle/doc/1122695; http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202020180496
• topic: Peixe; Conservação; Estrutura Animal; Amazonia; Maternal lineage; Population structure; Arapaima gigas; Freshwater fish

Arapaima is a widely-distributed fish of enormous economic importance in the Amazon region. In the present study, a total of 232 specimens were sampled, 121 from five sites in the Amazon basin and 111 from five sites in the Tocantins-Araguaia basin. The analyses investigated fragments of the Cytochrome b, Control Region, Cytochrome Oxidase I, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and seven loci microsatellites. The analyses revealed the existence of two mitochondrial lineages within the general area, with no haplotypes shared between basins, and genetic variability significantly higher in the Amazon than in the Tocantins-Araguaia basin. Two divergent, but sympatric mitochondrial lineages were found in the Amazon basin, but only a single lineage in the Tocantins-Araguaia basin. The existence of these two mitochondrial lineages indicates that past events, probably occurring during the Pleistocene, resulted in the separation of the populations of this species and molded its evolutionary history, which is reflected directly in its mitochondrial DNA. The analysis of the arapaima population structure identified distinct levels of diversity within the distribution of the species, indicating specific geographic regions that will require special attention for the development of conservation and management strategies.