Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Comparative Population Genetics And Evolutionary History Of Two Commonly Misidentified Billfishes Of Management And Conservation Concern, Andrea M. Bernard, Mahmood S. Shivji, Eric Prince, Fabio H.V. Hazin, Freddy Arocha, Andres Domingo, Kevin A. Feldheim

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Background: Misidentifications between exploited species may lead to inaccuracies in population assessments, with potentially irreversible conservation ramifications if overexploitation of either species is occurring. A notable showcase is provided by the realization that the roundscale spearfish (Tetrapturus georgii), a recently validated species, has been historically misidentified as the morphologically very similar and severely overfished white marlin (Kajikia albida) (IUCN listing: Vulnerable). In effect, no information exists on the population status and evolutionary history of the enigmatic roundscale spearfish, a large, highly vagile and broadly distributed pelagic species. We provide the first population genetic evaluation of the …