Shabani, MaulidiMalisa, Allen L.Nehemia, Alex2025-07-152025-07-152024http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/wiojms.v23i1.10https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/6837Journal articleThe whitespotted whipray Maculabatis gerrardi is exploited in Tanzania for its meat, skin and Accepted:cartilage, and is classified as an endangered species by the IUCN. A mitochondrial COI gene April 12, 2024fragment from 105 M. gerrardi individuals obtained from four unprotected and one protected Published:marine area in Tanzania was used to determine the present genetic diversity, demographics, and July xx, 2024effective population size of whiprays. Lower levels of nucleotide and haplotype diversity and Copyright:mean mutational effective population size were apparent in unprotected than in protected areas. Owned by the journal.Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) identified a significant genetic difference between sub- The articles are open accesspopulations of M. gerrardi and hierarchical AMOVA identified separate genetic stocks, indicative articles distributed underof high levels of philopatry or individual sedentarity in M. gerrardi. The importance of marine the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. protected areas to conserve genetic diversity of whiprays is highlighted.enGenetic diversityEffective population sizeGenetic monitoringElasmobranchGene flowArticle