RAD sequencing sheds new light on the genetic structure and local adaptation of European scallops and resolves their demographic histories

Recent developments in genomics are advancing our understanding of the processes shaping population structure in wild organisms. In particular, reduced representation sequencing has facilitated the generation of dense genetic marker datasets that provide greater power for resolving population structure, investigating the role of selection and reconstructing demographic histories. We therefore used RAD sequencing to study the great scallop Pecten maximus and its sister species P. jacobeus along a latitudinal cline in Europe. Analysis of 219 samples genotyped at 82,439 single nucleotide polymorphisms clearly resolved an Atlantic and a Norwegian group within P. maximus as well as P. jacobeus, in support of previous studies. Fine-scale structure was also detected, including pronounced differences involving Mulroy Bay in Ireland, where scallops are commercially cultured. Furthermore, we identified a suite of 279 environmentally associated loci that resolved a contrasting phylogenetic pattern to the remaining neutral loci, consistent with ecologically mediated divergence. Finally, demographic inference provided support for the two P. maximus groups having diverged during the last glacial maximum and subsequently expanded, whereas P. jacobeus diverged around 95,000 generations ago and experienced less pronounced expansion. Our results provide an integrative perspective on the factors shaping genome-wide differentiation in a commercially important marine invertebrate.