Life history implications of kinship structure in an Atlantic herring
schooling aggregation
Abstract
Kinship in natural marine fish systems has been little explored in part
due to limitations of available genomic approaches. This is especially
true for very abundant and commercially exploited marine pelagic fish
with broadcast spawning. Recent advances in genomics have however,
facilitated an improved understanding of population structure in marine
systems at fine geographic scales. Here, we identify kinship structure
in an aggregation of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) juveniles. We
identified 11 half-sib pairs using a suite of 92 sequenced
microsatellite DNA markers in a sample of N=1391 herring individuals
comprising two cohorts (ages 0+ and 1+) collected from the 2018 Fall
research survey of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. In addition, we
were also able to detect a full-sib pair using the combination of
half-sib pairs and whole mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. This study
suggests the presence of kinship structure in a juvenile herring
aggregation three months or more post hatching with implication for our
understanding of herring early life history.