Population genetic structure of mantis shrimps Oratosquilla oratoria: Testing the barrier effect of the Yangtze River outflow

In order to ascertain impact of freshwater outflow from the Yangtze River on the gene flow of coastal species, the population genetic structure of mantis shrimps Oratosquilla oratoria in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea was analyzed by the partial mitochondrial DNA 16S rRNA gene. A total of 124 individuals from seven localities in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea were collected and 31 haplotypes were detected, giving an overall haplotype diversity of 0.8193 ± 0.0272 and nucleotide diversity of 0.0036 ± 0.0022. Two genetically divergent lineages were revealed, which displayed strong differences in the geographical distribution. Significant genetic differentiation between the East China Sea and Yellow Sea were also revealed by the results of AMOVA and pair-wise FST. The present result supported our hypothesis that barrier effect of the Yangtze River outflow on gene flow of coastal species depend on differentiation salinity tolerance of species. It demonstrated that genetic pattern of O. oratoria in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea may be attributable to the interplay between salinity and the species’ life history traits.