Population connectivity of the catadromous fish Lates calcarifer across Van Diemen Gulf using a genomic approach

NAMRA researcher

This project was initiated in collaboration with David Crook (Charles Darwin University, Darwin), Thor Saunders (Northern Territory Fisheries, Darwin), Jane Hughes and Daniel Schmidt (Griffith University, Brisbane).

The barramundi is a catadromous and hermaphrodite fish that inhabits coastal waters. The commercial and recreational fishing activities put this fish under anthropic pressure. Previous genetic studies have shown a strong regional structure. However, they used scarce sampling and only few markers (mtDNA & microsatellites). Only little is know about the small geographic and individual scale in that species. The aim of the project is to provide a fine-scale genetic study focusing on Van Diemen gulf area using a RAD-seq approach to understand the biology and population connectivity of barramundi.