Phylogeography of Three Commercially Important Seahorses (Genus Hippocampus) in Thai Waters: An Implication from Collective Sequence Data
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Abstract
All seahorse species found in Thai waters are categorized as vulnerable according to the IUCN Red List. Management and conservation plans for seahorse populations require basic knowledge of their population genetic structure and geological history. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate phylogeographical patterns of three commercially important seahorses in Thai waters, the spotted (Hippocampus kuda), the hedgehog (H. spinosissimus) and the three-spotted (H. trimaculatus) seahorses, based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. DNA sequences of three species were derived from previous studies in phylogeny of Thai seahorses and comparative phylogeography of Southeast Asian seahorses. The analyses of partial cytochrome b sequences from H. kuda (7 haplotypes, n=40), H. spinosissimus (24 haplotypes, n=32) and H. trimaculatus (13 haplotypes, n=28) suggested a distinct phylogeographical pattern in one out of the three species studied (the Gulf of Thailand vs. the Andaman Sea populations in H. kuda). A distinct phylogeographical pattern in the shallow-water species, H. kuda could be explained by external factors, including geographical isolation between two oceans during the Pleistocene (2.5 million-10,000 years ago), along with ecological differences among species. The Pleistocene separation had no apparent effect on the present-day patterns of two deeper-water species, H. spinosissimus and H. trimaculatus, as their subsequent distribution could have blurred historical separation.
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