Control region haplotype variation in the central Mediterranean common sole indicates geographical isolation and population structuring in Italian stocks

Abstract

Nine common sole Solea vulgaris samples from five fishery Management Units (MUs) of the central Mediterranean exhibited differences in a control region sequence marker. Parsimony network showed two low‐divergent haplotype phylogroups. The former predominated in samples from the Ligurian, Tyrrhenian, Adriatic and north‐western Ionian Seas (MUs 9, 10, 17, 18 and northern part of 19, respectively), whereas the latter was abundant in the south‐western Ionian (southern part of MU 19). The geographical clustering of maternal lineages accounts for population structuring and indicates geographical isolation of common sole stocks in the Mediterranean. Several life‐history traits of common sole and hydro‐geographical features of the basin might support this pattern of differentiation. Haplotype frequency differences were detected among samples either from different MUs or within the same MU. This situation indicates the presence of partially subdivided or nearly panmictic population units, whose exploitation should be based on appropriate bio‐ecological features. The usefulness of control region sequence marker enhances the routinely use of the genetic stock structure analysis in low‐dispersal demersal marine resources.

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