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Inter and intra-population phenotypic and genotypic structuring in the European whitefish Coregonus lavaretus, a rare freshwater fish in Scotland

Adams, C. E.; Bean, C. W.; Dodd, J. A.; Down, A.; Etheridge, E. C.; Gowans, A. R. D.; Hooker, O.; Knudsen, R.; Lyle, A. A.; Winfield, I. J.; Praebel, K.

Authors

C. E. Adams

C. W. Bean

A. Down

E. C. Etheridge

A. R. D. Gowans

O. Hooker

R. Knudsen

A. A. Lyle

I. J. Winfield

K. Praebel



Abstract

This study revealed between‐lake genetic structuring between Coregonus lavaretus collected from the only two native populations of this species in Scotland, U.K. (Lochs Eck and Lomond) evidenced by the existence of private alleles (12 in Lomond and four in Eck) and significant genetic differentiation (FST = 0·056) across 10 microsatellite markers. Juvenile C. lavaretus originating from eggs collected from the two lakes and reared in a common‐garden experiment showed clear phenotypic differences in trophic morphology (i.e. head and body shape) between these populations indicating that these characteristics were, at least partly, inherited. Microsatellite analysis of adults collected from different geographic regions within Loch Lomond revealed detectable and statistically significant but relatively weak genetic structuring (FST = 0·001–0·024) and evidence of private alleles related to the basin structure of the lake. Within‐lake genetic divergence patterns suggest three possibilities for this observed pattern: (1) differential selection pressures causing divergence into separate gene pools, (2) a collapse of two formerly divergent gene pools and (3) a stable state maintained by balancing selection forces resulting from spatial variation in selection and lake heterogeneity. Small estimates of effective population sizes for the populations in both lakes suggest that the capacity of both populations to adapt to future environmental change may be limited.

Citation

Adams, C. E., Bean, C. W., Dodd, J. A., Down, A., Etheridge, E. C., Gowans, A. R. D., Hooker, O., Knudsen, R., Lyle, A. A., Winfield, I. J., & Praebel, K. (2016). Inter and intra-population phenotypic and genotypic structuring in the European whitefish Coregonus lavaretus, a rare freshwater fish in Scotland. Journal of Fish Biology, 88(2), 580-594. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.12855

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 2, 2015
Online Publication Date Jan 8, 2016
Publication Date Feb 17, 2016
Deposit Date Oct 17, 2019
Journal Journal of Fish Biology
Print ISSN 0022-1112
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 88
Issue 2
Pages 580-594
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.12855
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/1802923