Seascape genomics reveals shared spatial genetic structure in three co-occurring sea snakes
- 1Adelaide University
Abstract
Marine species with broad distributions often exhibit complex patterns of genetic connectivity, shaped by historical and contemporary processes. Understanding these patterns is critical for conserving taxa threatened by ongoing and future environmental change. Here, we use reduced-representation and whole-genome sequencing to investigate population genetic patterns in three co-occurring sea snake species (Hydrophis stokesii, Hydrophis major, and Aipysurus laevis) across northern Australia and New Caledonia. Broadscale analyses revealed major genetic breaks across all species between: (1) Australia and New Caledonia, (2) northwestern and northeastern Australia, and (3) the offshore Timor Sea reefs and adjacent northwestern continental shelf of Australia. More subtle genetic differentiation was observed between Shark Bay in Western Australia and northern localities. All species showed relatively large effective population sizes and broadscale connectivity across ~1,300 km of Australia's northwestern continental shelf. This likely reflects substantial historical range expansion over late Quaternary timescales, which may have contributed to the observed genetic connectivity across the region. However, subtle patterns of isolation by distance emphasised the contribution of species-specific traits in shaping connectivity. The isolated offshore reef populations are genetically distinct and potentially threatened by environmental change. Disjunct populations in Shark Bay and the Timor Sea maintain similar levels of genetic diversity to the extensive continental shelf populations, while New Caledonian populations exhibit reduced diversity. Our results support the delineation of spatial units for sea snake conservation based on shared phylogeographic structure, while also finding important population- and species-specific differences in connectivity at finer spatial and temporal scales.
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BibTeX
@misc{coppersmith2026seascape,
title = {{Seascape genomics reveals shared spatial genetic structure in three co-occurring sea snakes}},
author = {S. Coppersmith and V. Udyawer and J. M. Crowe-Riddell and J. H. Nankivell and A. R. Pointon and V. O. Garcia and B. d'Anastasi and C. Goiran and K. L. Sanders and A. J. Ludington},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.02.756145},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.02.756145v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Seascape genomics reveals shared spatial genetic structure in three co-occurring sea snakes
AU - S. Coppersmith
AU - V. Udyawer
AU - J. M. Crowe-Riddell
AU - J. H. Nankivell
AU - A. R. Pointon
AU - V. O. Garcia
AU - B. d'Anastasi
AU - C. Goiran
AU - K. L. Sanders
AU - A. J. Ludington
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.02.756145
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.02.756145v1
AB - Marine species with broad distributions often exhibit complex patterns of genetic connectivity, shaped by historical and contemporary processes. Understanding these patterns is critical for conserving taxa threatened by ongoing and future environmental change. Here, we use reduced-representation and whole-genome sequencing to investigate population genetic patterns in three co-occurring sea snake species (Hydrophis stokesii, Hydrophis major, and Aipysurus laevis) across northern Australia and New Caledonia. Broadscale analyses revealed major genetic breaks across all species between: (1) Australia and New Caledonia, (2) northwestern and northeastern Australia, and (3) the offshore Timor Sea reefs and adjacent northwestern continental shelf of Australia. More subtle genetic differentiation was observed between Shark Bay in Western Australia and northern localities. All species showed relatively large effective population sizes and broadscale connectivity across ~1,300 km of Australia's northwestern continental shelf. This likely reflects substantial historical range expansion over late Quaternary timescales, which may have contributed to the observed genetic connectivity across the region. However, subtle patterns of isolation by distance emphasised the contribution of species-specific traits in shaping connectivity. The isolated offshore reef populations are genetically distinct and potentially threatened by environmental change. Disjunct populations in Shark Bay and the Timor Sea maintain similar levels of genetic diversity to the extensive continental shelf populations, while New Caledonian populations exhibit reduced diversity. Our results support the delineation of spatial units for sea snake conservation based on shared phylogeographic structure, while also finding important population- and species-specific differences in connectivity at finer spatial and temporal scales.
ER -