Abstract
The whitespotted whipray Maculabatis gerrardi is exploited in Tanzania for its meat, skin and cartilage, and is classified as an endangered species by the IUCN. A mitochondrial COI gene fragment from 105 M. gerrardi individuals obtained from four unprotected and one protected marine area in Tanzania was used to determine the present genetic diversity, demographics, and effective population size of whiprays. Lower levels of nucleotide and haplotype diversity and mean mutational effective population size were apparent in unprotected than in protected areas. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) identified a significant genetic difference between subpopulations of M. gerrardi and hierarchical AMOVA identified separate genetic stocks, indicative of high levels of philopatry or individual sedentarity in M. gerrardi. The importance of marine protected areas to conserve genetic diversity of whiprays is highlighted.