The southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, shows clear phenotypic differences between shallow water (red coloured) and deeper water (pale coloured) individuals. Translocations of individuals from deeper water to shallower waters are currently being trialled as a management strategy to facilitate a phenotypic change from lower value pale colouration, common in deeper waters, to the higher value red colouration found in shallow waters. Although panmixia across the J. edwardsii range has been long assumed, it is critical to assess the genetic variability of the species to ensure that the level of population connectivity is appropriately understood and translocations do not have unintended consequences. Eight microsatellite loci were used to investigate genetic differentiation between six sites (three shallow, three deep) across southern Tasmania, Australia, and one from New Zealand. Based on analyses the assumption of panmixia was rejected, revealing small levels of genetic differentiation across southern Tasmania, significant levels of differentiation between Tasmania and New Zealand, and high levels of asymmetric gene flow in an easterly direction from Tasmania into New Zealand. These results suggest that translocation among Tasmanian populations are not likely to be problematic, however, a re-consideration of panmictic stock structure for this species is necessary.

SRL original genotype dataThe Microsoft excel file 'SRL original genotype data' lists the important data for each individual scored in this study. By column, data includes an ID code relative to the individual lobster sampled, the site the lobster was taken from, the latitude and longitude location of this site, the site code used in analysis, the phenotype of the individual, and a list of the 8 microsatellite genotypes scored for the individual. In columns G to V are featured the 8 microsatellite loci, with two columns each indicating each allele for the microsatellite. There are 6 sites total sampled across Southern Tasmania, and one site sampled in New Zealand (latitude and longitude not given for this area).SRL adjusted genotype dataThe Microsoft excel file 'SRL adjusted genotype data' features the same data as that of the original file 'SRL original genotype data', excepting that the microsatellite data is now represented as it was when adjusted (using the number 999) for null alleles. This method involved replacing an established number of false homozygote genotypes with the assigned heterozygote number of 999. This data set has been indicated as being used in some statistical tests, hence may be useful when testing in programs that are not robust to the level of null alleles as found in the original data set.