1National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-8648, 2Laboratory of Environmental Biology, Japan NUS Co., Ltd., Minato, Tokyo 108-0022, 3Nationl Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-8648, Japan
The population structure of the pelagic armorhead, Pseudopentaceros wheeleri, from eight localities in the central North Pacific Ocean was examined using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the D-Loop region performed on PCR products revealed no area-specific RFLP profiles and frequencies of composite mtDNA haplotypes were not significantly different among sampling sites. The results suggest that the pelagic armorhead forms a single genetic stock within the sampling range in the North Pacific Ocean.