Genetic Diversity of Pelophylax cerigensis-like Populations on the Anatolian Mainland in Türkiye (Amphibia: Anura: Ranidae)

Abstract

Genetic diversity is increasingly used as a vital component in planning appropriate conservation strategies. Water frogs in the eastern Mediterranean consist of several endemic species. The Critically Endangered Karpathos water frog (Pelophylax cerigensis) is one such species, restricted to Karpathos Island, but recently P. cerigensis specific haplotypes were also found in Rhodes and southwestern Türkiye. Since geologically Karpathos and Rhodes have been separated from the Anatolian mainland millions years ago, the genetic diversity of P. cerigensis-like populations on the Anatolian mainland are not known. Here, we aim to evaluate the genetic diversity of this mainland populations (N=52) in southwestern Anatolia by using 5 polymorphic microsatellite loci. According to results, a total of 38 alleles which five loci exhibited a moderate level of genetic diversity (observed heterozygosity, HO=0.423). The population has not gone through a bottleneck anytime soon; however, signs of inbreeding were determined (Fıs=0.401). Due to restricted occurrence from Antalya to Aydın provinces in southwestern Türkiye and a moderate level of genetic diversity, they should be considered a third Management Unit (MU) of P. cerigensis populations in addition to previous Karpathos and Rhodes MUs. This approach is very crucial to formulate suitable management strategies for conservation of these threatened populations.