Population structure of Haliotis rubra from South Australia inferred from nuclear and mtDNA analyses

Microsatellite loci and mtDNA-RFLPs were surveyed in four spatially separated populations of Haliotis rubra and two populations of putative Haliotis conicorpora from South Australia. A high level of microsatellite genetic diversity was observed in all populations although several loci were characterized by homozygote excesses, probably due to null alleles. MtDNA variation was also moderate with an average of 80% haplotype variation across the six populations. Despite the high levels of genetic variation, significant pair-wise spatial differentiation is not detected among the populations. Hierarchical AMOVA analysis revealed very low levels of genetic partitioning on either a spatial or putative species level. Both molecular techniques revealed little genetic differentiation across the six populations, suggesting a panmictic population model for these South Australian abalone populations. Furthermore, no molecular evidence suggests that the putative H. conicorpora individuals sampled from South Australia belong to a separate species.