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Asymmetric admixture and morphological variability at a suture zone: parapatric burbot subspecies (Pisces) in the Mackenzie River basin, Canada

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Abstract

The burbot (Lota lota L.) is a northern freshwater fish with a circumpolar distribution. Two subspecies diverged due to isolation during glacial maxima: Lota lota lota is the Eurasian-Beringian subspecies and Lota lota maculosa the North American subspecies. We sampled burbot from the Great Slave Lake and Mackenzie River area, Canada, the only known contact zone of these two lineages. Using molecular methods (microsatellite loci and mtDNA sequence) we found that the subspecies’ distributions abut in the Mackenzie River delta, with L. l. lota in the lower delta and L. l. maculosa in all upstream rivers and lakes. Admixture between subspecies was minimal, decreased with increasing geographic distance, and was asymmetrical: mitochondrial and nuclear genetic introgression was from L. l. lota into L. l. maculosa but not the reverse. Within subspecies, there was low inter-population genetic differentiation, no isolation-by-distance, and no evidence for sex-biased dispersal. We did not identify a difference in body length between subspecies per se, though mean lengths differed among localities. Thus, genetic data demonstrate that burbot subspecies are reproductively isolated though the extent to which morphologically variability relates to local versus subspecific variation remains unclear.

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Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by Gwich’in Renewable Resource Board, Aurora Research Institute, Environment Canada’s Northern Ecosystem Initiative, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, NSERC, DFG and the University of Konstanz. We thank M. Evans and J. Keating (Environment Canada) for contributing samples, the local fish monitors that assisted with collection and sampling (Louis Cardinal, Cecil Andre, Wally Tyrell, Russel Andre, Jozef Carnogurski, Randy Firth, Lyle Gully, Willy Clark, George Niditchie, Johnnie Kay and Ab Peterson), and the youth in Aklavik (Graham MacDonald, Annie Tyrell and Billy Tyrell) who assisted with sampling. We especially thank B. Dokum for technical help with sampling and assisting in the field. N. Millar also provided assistance in planning the project and assistance in the field. A special thanks to M. Evans for her assistance and comments on the manuscript and to Dr. T. Dick for his assistance throughout the project. We thank R. Eckmann for advice and assistance on morphology analyses.

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  1. Lehrstuhl für Zoologie Und Evolutionsbiologie, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätstrasse 10, 78457, Constance, Germany

    Kathryn R. Elmer, Hans Recknagel & Axel Meyer

  2. Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board, PO Box 2240, Inuvik, NT, X0E 0T0, Canada

    Amy Thompson

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  1. Kathryn R. Elmer
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Elmer, K.R., Recknagel, H., Thompson, A. et al. Asymmetric admixture and morphological variability at a suture zone: parapatric burbot subspecies (Pisces) in the Mackenzie River basin, Canada. Hydrobiologia 683, 217–229 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0959-y

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