Stepien, C.A., A.K. Dillon, and M.D. Chandler, 1998. Genetic Identity, Phylogeography, and Systematics of Ruffe Gymnocephalus in the North American Great Lakes and Eurasia, Ohio State University.

Reprinted from Journal of Great Lakes Research (1998) 24(2): 360-378

Abstract
The objectives of this study were to determine possible source regions for the newly invasive ruffe Gymnocephalus cernuus (Percidae: Teleostei), and to compare its level of genetic variability and divergence with Eurasian populations and congeners. Sequencing the entire mitochondrial DNA control region (1,024 base pairs) showed that G. baloni and G. schraetser were distinguished by six and seven fixed sequence substitutions, respectively, and were estimated to have diverged from G. cernuus by about 1.2 million years. Five Eurasian haplotypes of G. cernuus were identified, each distinguished by fixed sequence substitutions, and only one intrapopulational polymorphism was discerned. The five haplotypes of G. cernuus were divided into two primary groups-a western (Danube River and the introduced Bassenthwaite Lake, England populations) and an eastern (Baltic Sea area and Ob' River, Siberia populations) group-diverged by seven fixed sequence differences and an estimated 450,000 years. The two groups were probably isolated in different glacial refugia during the mid-Pleistocene Epoch. The population from the Danube River appeared genetically identical to the North American exotic population. The exotic population from Bassenthwaite Lake was distinguished from the Danube River/North American type by a fixed base substitution. Within the eastern group, the Baltic Sea area samples were separable from the Siberia population by a fixed substitution, repeated 17 times. Lack of genetic variability in most Eurasian populations of ruffe may be due to rapid expansion and founder events during post-Pleistocene recolonization.

Contact: Carol Stepien, Ohio State University, Ohio Sea Grant College Program Reprints, 1314 Kinnear Rd, Columbus, OH 43212
Keywords: Ruffe, Basic_biology, Population_dynamics
Product Type: Research, Basic_biology
User Type: General