@article{,

title = {Population Structure of Humpback Whales from Their Breeding Grounds in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans},

author = {Rosenbaum, H.C.,Pomilla, C.,Mendez, M.C.,Leslie, M.,Best, P.,Findlay, K.,Minton, G.,Ersts, P.J.,Collins, T.,Engel, M.H.,Bonatto, S.,Kotze, D.,Meyer, M.,Barendse, J.,Thornton, M.,Razafindrakoto, Y.,Ngouessono, S,Vely, M.,Kiszka, J.},

url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0007318},

year  = {2009},

date = {2009-01-01},

journal = {PLoS ONE},

volume = {4},

number = {460},

pages = {e7318. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007318},

abstract = {Although humpback whales are among the best-studied of the large whales, population boundaries in the Southern

Hemisphere (SH) have remained largely untested. We assess population structure of SH humpback whales using 1,527

samples collected from whales at fourteen sampling sites within the Southwestern and Southeastern Atlantic, the

Southwestern Indian Ocean, and Northern Indian Ocean (Breeding Stocks A, B, C and X, respectively). Evaluation of mtDNA

population structure and migration rates was carried out under different statistical frameworks. Using all genetic evidence,

the results suggest significant degrees of population structure between all ocean basins, with the Southwestern and

Northern Indian Ocean most differentiated from each other. Effective migration rates were highest between the

Southeastern Atlantic and the Southwestern Indian Ocean, followed by rates within the Southeastern Atlantic, and the

lowest between the Southwestern and Northern Indian Ocean. At finer scales, very low gene flow was detected between

the two neighbouring sub-regions in the Southeastern Atlantic, compared to high gene flow for whales within the

Southwestern Indian Ocean. Our genetic results support the current management designations proposed by the

International Whaling Commission of Breeding Stocks A, B, C, and X as four strongly structured populations. The population

structure patterns found in this study are likely to have been influenced by a combination of long-term maternally directed

fidelity of migratory destinations, along with other ecological and oceanographic features in the region.},

keywords = {Arabian Sea, Humpback Whale, Indian Ocean, megaptera novaeangliae, migration, mtDNA, Oman, population identity, population structure, Population X, Southern Hemisphere},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}