What is it about?
Populations of the endangered Knysna seahorse, Hippocampus capensis, in the Knysna, Swartvlei and Keurbooms estuaries are genetically distinct. However, the fact that they have diverged very recently and still share many alleles means that they should be managed as a single unit.
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Why is it important?
Presently, only the population in the largest estuary (Knysna) is large enough to ensure the species' long-term survival. If anything happens to this population, the species will likely become extinct. Our data suggest that genetically diverse back-up populations can be created in the smaller estuaries.
Perspectives
This paper is the first to be published from Thomas Mkare's PhD thesis.
Prof. Peter R Teske
University of Johannesburg
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Conservation implications of significant population differentiation in an endangered estuarine seahorse, Biodiversity and Conservation, February 2017, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s10531-017-1300-5.
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