menvova.blogg.se

The two known North American nurseries are the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Annually, the species travels to coastal nurseries to reproduce. The cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, is a migratory species of ray native to the Atlantic coasts of North and South America. From the data, the null hypothesis that there is no genetic divergence between the two nurseries and that the population is completely interbreeding was proven to be false with the alternate hypothesis that there is segregated breeding between the nurseries. Some genetic variation was found to be unique to one nursery this enforcing the need for well-informed regulatory practices to protect the ray’s biodiversity as a fishery in one nursery could destroy irreplaceable biodiversity. Throughout the ND2 locus, there is an average genetic diversity of about 4%. Analysis of this data suggests that there is isolated breeding between the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay, which at the minimum suggests that female rays return to the same nursery each year. Using Sanger sequencing, information about the genetic structure of the two known nurseries was gathered.

There are differing hypothesis about the genetic structure and status of the cownose ray population, due to lack of information.

The cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, is a migratory ray that returns from the open ocean to two known nurseries, the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, to reproduce.