Genetic population differentiation of the blue swimming crab Portunus pelagicus (Portunidae) in Thai waters revealed by RAPD analysis.

Genetic diversity and population differentiation of the blue swimming crab, Portunus pelagicus, in Thailand were analyzed by RAPD analysis. One hundred and twelve RAPD fragments were generated from 109 individuals of P. pelagicus using OPA02, OPA14, OPB10, UBC122, and UBC158 primers. The percentage of polymorphic bands in each geographic sample and that of each primer across overall samples were 72.7-85.0 and 92.0-100%, respectively. Large numbers of polymorphic bands found in the RAPD analysis suggested high genetic diversity of Thai P. pelagicus. The mean genetic distance between samples across all primers was 0.0929-0.2471. Significant geographic heterogeneity was observed across samples overall and between all pairs of geographic samples (P < 0.01 for theta and P < 0.0001 for the exact test), indicating strong genetic differentiation of P. pelagicus in Thai waters, despite its high potential of dispersal. Limited gene flow levels (0.44-1.19 individuals per generation) of Thai P. pelagicus were also observed. A fine scale level of differentiation suggested that P. pelagicus from each geographic sample in Thai waters should be regarded as a separate genetic population and treated as a different exploited stock.