ABSTRACT
India plays a central role in dugong conservation by hosting the largest population within south Asia. Current knowledge on status of Indian dugongs is limited due to paucity of reliable ecological data. This study generates mitochondrial control region sequences from about 10% of dugong population from major dugong populations within India. These data was compared with the global data to assess genetic lineages, population structure and genetic diversity of Indian populations.
Multiple analyses suggest that the Indian dugong populations are part of a single genetic cluster, comprising south Asia, northwest Indian ocean and southwest Indian ocean populations. Despite small population size, they retain high genetic diversity with unique mitochondrial DNA haplotypes within south Asia.
Within India, novel haplotypes were observed from all sampling sites with overall high haplotype diversity (0.85±0.04) but low nucleotide diversity (0.005±0.001). Indian populations exhibit high genetic differentiation with higher within-population variance (63.41%) than among populations (36.59%), signaling population structure. Few haplotypes were shared with Sri Lanka and southeast Asian populations, indicating potential genetic connectivity.
Being the most genetically unique population within south Asia, Indian dugong populations are globally significant. We recommend that Indian Dugong populations should be managed as a Conservation Unit to ensure population recovery and long-term survival of the species.
