Worldwide, the genus Haliotis is represented by 56 extant species and several of these are commercially cultured. Among the six abalone species found in South Africa, Haliotis midae is the only aquacultured species. Despite its economic importance, genomic sequence resources for H. midae, and for abalone in general, are still scarce. Next generation sequencing technologies provide a fast and efficient tool to generate large sequence collections that can be used to characterize the transcriptome and identify expressed genes associated with economically important traits like growth and disease resistance.

Aim: The formation history of Africa's current river basins remains largely unknown. In order to date changes in landscape and climate, we studied the biogeography of the African freshwater fish with the largest natural distribution. We also validated biogeographical units.Location: Continental Africa.Taxon: Clarias gariepinus sl.Methods: We investigated mitochondrial cytb sequences of 443 individuals from 97 localities, using a haplotype network and a genetic landscape analysis. We inferred a dated phylogeny using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference approaches and reconstructed ancestral areas with S‐DEC and S‐DIVA models. Microsatellite genotyping complemented the mitochondrial approach in the Congo basin, where the latter revealed complex patterns.Results: Limited differentiation is found in northern and south‐western Africa, and sharp genetic differentiation in the continent's east and centre. Populations with affinities to neighbouring basins occur at the edges of the Congo province. High diversity exists in the south of the Congo basin. The Zambezi province is partitioned into eastern, central and western sectors. In the east, specimens were related to those from the Congo. In the west, they were similar to Southern representatives. Phylogenetic inference placed the origin of C. gariepinus in the East Coast, with intraspecific diversification starting around the Great Lakes. These events occurred ca. 4.8–1.65 and 2.3–0.8 MYA respectively.Main conclusions: Clades of C. gariepinus sl. show a clear geographical signature. The origin of C. gariepinus in the East Coast and diversification around the Great Lakes coincided with the periods of increased aridity. Low genetic differentiation in northern and southern Africa may result from connectivity during recent periods of higher rainfall. In contrast to other widespread African freshwater fish, colonization rather than extinction seemed to mediate distribution patterns. This can be explained by a high ecological tolerance. We highlight the species’ suitability to study landscape and climate evolution at various scales.

Haliotis L. (abalone) is an economically important genus comprising approximately 14 species with commercial value. Unfortunately, due to habitat destruction, overfishing and illegal harvesting, this wild resource is being depleted to unrecoverable status worldwide. To supply the world demand, abalone are cultured in artificial hatchery environments. In the past few decades, attention has been paid to use these artificial environments to the benefit of the species by implementing abalone ranching or reseeding. This is done in an attempt to rebuild the collapsed populations and to prevent further declines in fished stocks. In various countries in which commercial production is in operation, this has been attempted with various levels of success. For ranching to be successful, various factors, however, need to be considered, one of the most important probably being the correct genetic management of such a ranching programme. Genetic management should include using broodstock that are representatives of natural populations, minimizing the effects of hatchery practices on the genetic make‐up of the animals to be released and investigating the genetic impacts of this practice on wild populations. In this review, the genetic management and the effects if management is not implemented are discussed as well as the potential of molecular markers to be used as genetic tags in identifying hatchery‐reared animals.