Genetic population structure of deep-water prawns Haliporoides triarthrus and langoustines Metanephrops mozambicus in the South West Indian Ocean

Deep-water prawns Haliporoides triarthrus and langoustines Metanephrops mozambicus are endemic to the South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) region and make up the largest proportion of deep-water crustacean trawl catches in Mozambique and South Africa. Despite their economic importance to these fisheries, little is known about their distribution, biology and genetic population structure. The metapopulation genetic variation of H. triarthrus and M. mozambicus was assessed from 220 specimens per species collected from three sites in Mozambique (Bazaruto A, Boa Paz and Inhaca), two sites in western Madagascar (Morombe and Tulear) and one site in eastern South Africa (Durban). Two fragments of the mitochondrial region were amplified using universal primers ribosomal 16S subunit (16S) and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI). From H. triarthrus, fragments of 569 base pair (bp) (16S) and 1300 bp (COI) were amplified. A total of 207 sequences (16S) and 151 sequences (COI) were recovered, and 69 and 78 haplotypes identified, respectively. Metanephrops mozambicus 16S and COI genes produced similar fragment lengths, and 112 (16S) and 127 haplotypes (COI) were recovered.