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Tracking larvae with molecular markers reveals high relatedness and early seasonal recruitment success in a partially spawning marine bivalve

  • Population ecology - Original research
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Abstract

The partial synchronized spawning strategy adopted by some marine invertebrate broadcast-spawners can lead to the production of many distinct pools of larvae within a single reproductive cycle. Following the fate of these larval groups from birth to settlement with molecular markers might shed light on mechanisms regulating their population recruitment. Larvae and recruits of Mya arenaria, a partially spawning marine bivalve, were monitored and collected over 13 consecutive weeks during an entire reproductive cycle. Each sampled individual (n = 218) was sorted according to size (early veligers, late veligers, post-larval recruits) and genotyped at seven microsatellite loci for comparisons among samples and with adult reference samples (n = 270). While traditional differentiation statistics (e.g., pairwise ϴ ST, allelic richness) suggested the absence of sweepstakes reproductive success, the level of relatedness found within and among larvae and recruit samples suggested otherwise. Four samples out of ten were observed to have higher within-sample relatedness values than randomly expected, including the very first group of early veligers produced in the season (E1) and the last group of post-larvae who survived recruitment (P10). E1 individuals were also found to be more related than randomly expected to individuals of more than 80 % of all other samples including the last surviving recruits (P8 and P10). These results suggest that the first larvae produced in the season were the most successful to survive recruitment. Results also show direct evidence for larval retention and demonstrate for the first time larval and post-larval kin aggregation in a marine bivalve.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the following for their much appreciated help in the field and in the laboratory: Philippe Galipeau, Éric Parent, Éric Tremblay, Léophane Leblanc, Firmin Leblanc, Gilles Miron, Marie-Josée Abgrall, Chantal Gionet, Chantale Daigle, Iften Redjah, Gilles Courcy, Yves Lambert, Efflam Guillou, Jinliang Wang, Dany Garant, André Martel and the Kouchibouguac National Park of Canada. This study was funded by the Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP), the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Ressources Aquatiques du Québec (RAQ) grants.

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  1. Institut des Sciences de la Mer, Université du Québec à Rimouski, 310 Allée des Ursulines, Rimouski, QC, G5L 3A1, Canada

    Philippe St-Onge & Réjean Tremblay

  2. Pêches et Océans Canada, Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, 850 Route de la Mer, Mont-Joli, QC, G5H 3Z4, Canada

    Jean-Marie Sévigny

  3. Centro de Biologia Marinha (CEBIMar), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Rodovia Doutor Manuel Hypolito do Rego km.131,5, Bairro Praia do Cabelo Gordo, São Sebastião, SP, CEP: 11600-000, Brazil

    Philippe St-Onge

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  1. Philippe St-Onge
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Correspondence to Philippe St-Onge.

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St-Onge, P., Tremblay, R. & Sévigny, JM. Tracking larvae with molecular markers reveals high relatedness and early seasonal recruitment success in a partially spawning marine bivalve. Oecologia 178, 733–746 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3245-2

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