Population structure of Japanese spiny lobster Panulirus japonicus inferred by nucleotide sequence analysis of mitochondrial COI gene

The mitochondrial DNA sequence for the COI region was determined for 73 Panulirus japonicus individuals collected at three sample locations in Japan. Fifty-one haplotypes, including 69 polymorphic sites without insertion and deletion, were detected, of which three dominant haplotypes were shared among the three sample locations. The nucleotide and haplotype diversities at the three sample locations were in the ranges of 0.009-0.010 and 0.959-0.990, respectively. No significant population subdivision was detected among the sample locations based on the F-st value and net nucleotide substitution rate, and analysis of the molecular variance model (AMOVA). There was no characteristic geographic distribution pattern for these haplotypes. These results indicate there is no genetic differentiation between P. japonicus populations in Japan, and support the hypothesis that benthic individuals of P. japonicus are sustained from a population of a common pool of long-period phyllosoma larvae through long-distance larval transport within the Kuroshio Subgyre.