Mitochondrial DNA restriction site variation in Tasmanian populations of Orange Roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus), a deep-water marine teleost

Abstract

The orange roughy, Hoplostethus atlanticus, forms the basis of an important trawl fishery in Australia and New Zealand which is currently being over-exploited. To gain information about the stock structure of an Australian orange roughy population, ten restriction enzymes were used to survey the restriction- site variation in the mitochondrial genome of 23 individuals collected from the east coast and 26 individuals collected from the west coast of Tasmania. The mean diversity between all 49 genomes was a low 0.19%. Of the eleven haplotypes identified, only one was present in both the east and west coast samples. Four haplotypes were found only in the east coast sample and six were found only in the west coast sample. Eight haplotypes were related to the haplotype found on both coasts by the gain or loss of one restriction site. One haplotype collected in the east coast sample was related to one other east coast haplotype by one site change. One haplotype collected from the west coast was related to a west coast haplotype by one site change. If this pattern is confirmed by further mitochondrial DNA studies, it could be inferred that gene flow between the orange roughy populations on the east and west coasts of Tasmania is low.