Population identification of common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) inferred from genetic, morphometric and cuttlebone chemistry data in the NE Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

The population structures of the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis from the north-eastern Mediterranean (Antalya and Iskenderun Bays), Aegean (Izmir Bay) and Marmara Seas were analyzed with mtDNA PCR-RFLP, body morphometry and cuttlebone chemistry. Analysis of a ND 5/6 (Nikotin Amid Adenin Dehidrojenaz-5/6) gene segment of mtDNA revealed seven haplotypes from 120 individuals. No haplotype sharing was observed among sampling sites. The average nucleotide divergence between samples was 0.009390, and the highest genetic divergence (0.015279) was observed between the Iskenderun Bay and Marmara Sea samples. The lowest genetic divergence (0.003786) was between the Aegean Sea and Antalya Bay samples. Highly significant differences (P