Author's abstract: The Atlantic sand fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, is an extremely abundant fiddler crab found along the eastern and Gulf coast of the United States. Fiddler crabs have a life cycle with an obligatory planktonic larval phase of 30-90 days, which might be expected to lead to widespread larval dispersal and consequent genetic homogeneity over considerable distances. However a large amount of morphological and behavioral variation is found between northern and southern populations along the eastern coast. This study was undertaken to determine the population genetic structure of U. pugilator and to determine whether these differences may have a genetic basis. The population structure of the fiddler crab was analyzed using 576 individuals collected from 12 sites along the eastern coast. PCR-base single stand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) was used to analyze segments of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) genes of these individuals. The ITS1 marker did not prove to be informative when screened by SSCP for this study. The 16S marker revealed a moderate amount of population structure (FST = 0.292) between populations. The results of this study reveal frequent gene flow between nearby localities, but reduced levels between populations separated by large distances. Despite the potential for high dispersal by planktonic larvae, population differentiation and isolation by distance was found between populations U. pugilator. Northern and southern regions are separated by a genetic distance of 0.3866 suggesting the potential for morphological and behavioral differentiation across the species range. INDEX WORDS: Uca pugilator, Fiddler crab, Population structure, Gene flow, Larval dispersal, Single-stand conformational polymorphism, 16S rDNA, ITS-1
","abstract_html":"<p>Author's abstract: The Atlantic sand fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, is an extremely abundant fiddler crab found along the eastern and Gulf coast of the United States. Fiddler crabs have a life cycle with an obligatory planktonic larval phase of 30-90 days, which might be expected to lead to widespread larval dispersal and consequent genetic homogeneity over considerable distances. However a large amount of morphological and behavioral variation is found between northern and southern populations along the eastern coast. This study was undertaken to determine the population genetic structure of U. pugilator and to determine whether these differences may have a genetic basis. The population structure of the fiddler crab was analyzed using 576 individuals collected from 12 sites along the eastern coast. PCR-base single stand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) was used to analyze segments of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) genes of these individuals. The ITS1 marker did not prove to be informative when screened by SSCP for this study. The 16S marker revealed a moderate amount of population structure (FST = 0.292) between populations. The results of this study reveal frequent gene flow between nearby localities, but reduced levels between populations separated by large distances. Despite the potential for high dispersal by planktonic larvae, population differentiation and isolation by distance was found between populations U. pugilator. Northern and southern regions are separated by a genetic distance of 0.3866 suggesting the potential for morphological and behavioral differentiation across the species range. INDEX WORDS: Uca pugilator, Fiddler crab, Population structure, Gene flow, Larval dispersal, Single-stand conformational polymorphism, 16S rDNA, ITS-1</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Weese, David A."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Biology (M.S.)","degree_level":"Thesis (open access)","degree_discipline":"Department of Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Denson K. McLain","none"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:27:41Z","subjects":["ETD","Uca pugilator","Fiddler crab","Population structure","Gene flow","Larval dispersal","Single-stand conformational polymorphism","16S rDNA","ITS-1","Aquaculture and Fisheries","Biology","Life Sciences","Marine Biology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1024","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Denson K. McLain","none"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Weese, David A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-02-25T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis (open access)"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Biology (M.S.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["ETD","Uca pugilator","Fiddler crab","Population structure","Gene flow","Larval dispersal","Single-stand conformational polymorphism","16S rDNA","ITS-1","Aquaculture and Fisheries","Biology","Life Sciences","Marine Biology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1024"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Author's abstract: The Atlantic sand fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, is an extremely abundant fiddler crab found along the eastern and Gulf coast of the United States. Fiddler crabs have a life cycle with an obligatory planktonic larval phase of 30-90 days, which might be expected to lead to widespread larval dispersal and consequent genetic homogeneity over considerable distances. However a large amount of morphological and behavioral variation is found between northern and southern populations along the eastern coast. This study was undertaken to determine the population genetic structure of U. pugilator and to determine whether these differences may have a genetic basis. The population structure of the fiddler crab was analyzed using 576 individuals collected from 12 sites along the eastern coast. PCR-base single stand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) was used to analyze segments of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) genes of these individuals. The ITS1 marker did not prove to be informative when screened by SSCP for this study. The 16S marker revealed a moderate amount of population structure (FST = 0.292) between populations. The results of this study reveal frequent gene flow between nearby localities, but reduced levels between populations separated by large distances. Despite the potential for high dispersal by planktonic larvae, population differentiation and isolation by distance was found between populations U. pugilator. Northern and southern regions are separated by a genetic distance of 0.3866 suggesting the potential for morphological and behavioral differentiation across the species range. INDEX WORDS: Uca pugilator, Fiddler crab, Population structure, Gene flow, Larval dispersal, Single-stand conformational polymorphism, 16S rDNA, ITS-1
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Molecular Population Genetics of the Atlantic Sand Fiddler Crab, Uca Pugilator, Along the Atlantic Coast"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Denson K. McLain","none"],"dc:creator":["Weese, David A."],"dc:date.available":["2014-02-25T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Author's abstract: The Atlantic sand fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, is an extremely abundant fiddler crab found along the eastern and Gulf coast of the United States. Fiddler crabs have a life cycle with an obligatory planktonic larval phase of 30-90 days, which might be expected to lead to widespread larval dispersal and consequent genetic homogeneity over considerable distances. However a large amount of morphological and behavioral variation is found between northern and southern populations along the eastern coast. This study was undertaken to determine the population genetic structure of U. pugilator and to determine whether these differences may have a genetic basis. The population structure of the fiddler crab was analyzed using 576 individuals collected from 12 sites along the eastern coast. PCR-base single stand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) was used to analyze segments of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) genes of these individuals. The ITS1 marker did not prove to be informative when screened by SSCP for this study. The 16S marker revealed a moderate amount of population structure (FST = 0.292) between populations. The results of this study reveal frequent gene flow between nearby localities, but reduced levels between populations separated by large distances. Despite the potential for high dispersal by planktonic larvae, population differentiation and isolation by distance was found between populations U. pugilator. Northern and southern regions are separated by a genetic distance of 0.3866 suggesting the potential for morphological and behavioral differentiation across the species range. INDEX WORDS: Uca pugilator, Fiddler crab, Population structure, Gene flow, Larval dispersal, Single-stand conformational polymorphism, 16S rDNA, ITS-1
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1024"],"dc:subject":["ETD","Uca pugilator","Fiddler crab","Population structure","Gene flow","Larval dispersal","Single-stand conformational polymorphism","16S rDNA","ITS-1","Aquaculture and Fisheries","Biology","Life Sciences","Marine Biology"],"dc:title":["Molecular Population Genetics of the Atlantic Sand Fiddler Crab, Uca Pugilator, Along the Atlantic Coast"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis (open access)"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Biology (M.S.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:27:41Z"}