
%0 Journal Article
%A Johnson, MS 
%A Joll, LM 
%T Genetic subdivision of the pearl oyster <I>Pinctata maxima</I> (Jameson, 1901) (Mollusca: Pteriidae) in northern Australia
%J Marine and Freshwater Research
%D 1993/08/01
%V 44
%N 4
%P 519-526
%K 
%R https://doi.org/10.1071/MF9930519
%U https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MF9930519 
%X The genetic structure of the pearl oyster Pinctada maxima in northern Australia was investigated by  starch-gel electrophoresis. Six polymorphic enzymes were examined in 220 individuals from five  areas which span a distance of 3400 km. Across this range, the average FST is 0.104, with three  of the loci showing highly significant variation in allelic frequencies. Most of the geographic variation  is clinal between western and eastern populations. Particularly striking is the near substitution of  alternate alleles for GOT between Western Australia and north-eastern Queensland. Comparisons  between adjacent pairs of samples usually revealed significant genetic differences, including  differences between two areas in the Northern Territory separated by 320 km. In contrast, two  samples from Western Australia showed little evidence of genetic subdivision over a distance of  more than 800 km. These genetic comparisons indicate that stocks of P. maxima are highly  subdivided in northern Australia, but they also favour the view that there are substantial connections  of Western Australian populations over large distances. 
