Genetic Insights into the Population Connectivity, Biogeography, and Management of Fisheries-Important Spiny Lobsters (Palinuridae)

Abstract Spiny lobster species are ecologically important and highly prized as seafood globally. Populations of spiny lobsters have been impacted by overfishing, the harvesting of juveniles for seeding aquaculture, the spread of virulent disease, and declines in recruitment and natural habitat. Many spiny lobster populations cover vast geographic ranges, maintained via ocean-going larval dispersal, which makes effective management challenging. Determining the genetic structure and phylogeographic boundaries are important in fisheries and aquaculture for defining appropriate units for management or breeding. Nevertheless, the common patterns of biogeographic distribution and connectivity of spiny lobster populations are generally not well understood. This review summarizes recent genetic advances in our understanding of these patterns and presents several meta-analyses to help discern the common processes driving them. Due to the probable link between biogeographic patterns among species and phylogeographic patterns within species, the spatial patterns of recent genetic stock divergence were investigated with the assistance of a new comprehensive and time-calibrated phylogeny for palinurids. Meta-analyses of biogeographic and phylogeographic patterns were used to identify common patterns of genetic stock divergence. A model is proposed that synthesizes the current understanding of the common processes of divergence of palinurid genetic lineages, emphasizing the importance of allopatry, ecological adaptation, and changing patterns of connectivity over time. Overall, the results highlight the importance of major biogeographic boundaries in structuring spiny lobster stocks over a broad scale, while oceanographic features and stochasticity dominate at smaller scales. These insights will assist the management of spiny lobster fisheries and aquaculture development, by better identifying and understanding the genetic units expected to be most appropriate for management and breeding, even in those species that have not yet received intensive genetic study.