Genetic diversity and historical demography of Chinese shrimp Feneropenaeus chinensis in Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea based on mitochondrial DNA analysis

Genetic structure and demographic history of shrimp Feneropenaeus chinensis were examined using sequence data from portions of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene. Samples of 91 individuals were collected from 5 localities over most of the species’ range in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. Variability was detected at a total of 20 nucleotide sites, defining 20 haplotypes of COI in this species. The detected level of variation was low, with H = 0.4816 ± 0.0639 and = 0.0846 ± 0.0711% respectively. Analysis of molecular variance and the conventional population statistic FST revealed no significant genetic structure throughout the range of F. chinensis. Both mismatch distribution analyses and neutrality tests suggested a late Pleistocene or Holocene population expansion (12,100 – 28,500 years ago) for the species, which was consistent with the geological period of formation of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. These results indicated that F. chinensis in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea might have undergone a genetic bottleneck or founder event during the late Pleistocene globle glacial period.