Population Structure and Phylogeography of Macrobrachium Species on the Hawaiian Archipelago

Duffy, Kathleen; Rhode, Tracy

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Population Structure and Phylogeography of Macrobrachium Species on the Hawaiian Archipelago

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Macrobrachium is a genus of freshwater prawns with species found around the world. Several Macrobrachium species are present on the Hawaiian archipelago, including the native M. grandimanus and the recently introduced M. lar. The mitochondrial COI gene was sequenced and analyzed from samples of the Hawaiian populations of these two species. Data analysis suggested significant differences between species’ haplotype networks. Data for M. lar supported expectations for a recent founder population. Data for M. grandimanus suggested gene flow between islands, as well as a possible recent bottleneck event. Both species exhibited an overall lack of genetic diversity. However, due to the small sample size of this study, further research is required to confirm these conclusions.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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