Population structure of albacore Thunnus alalunga inferred from blood groups and tag-recapture analyses

Samples of albacore Thunnus alalunga from 6 locations worldwide were used for blood group analysis according to the binding patterns of 8 different lectins. Conventional tag recapture data was reviewed and a spatially structured tag attrition model was fitted to data from the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Blood group analyses suggest that: (1) the Pacific population is the most distant from the others, (2) the Indian and the South Atlantic populations are proximate, (3) the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Guinea populations are proximate, (4) the Gulf of Guinea and the North Atlantic are distant from South Atlantic, and (5) the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic populations are distant. Migration rates between the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean obtained from the tag attrition model were low and thus, consistent with genetic results.