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Introgressive hybridization between the Atlantic and Pacific herrings (Clupea harengus and C. pallasii) in the north of Europe

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Abstract

We present evidence of mitochondrial and nuclear introgression from the Atlantic herring Clupea harengus into the Pacific herring C. pallasii in northern European seas, where the two species have come into secondary contact following the post-glacial trans-Arctic invasion of Pacific herring to the Atlantic realm. Although the breeding areas of the two species are thought to be separate, 7 % of the resident Pacific herring in samples from the White Sea were found to possess Atlantic herring mitochondria. The percentage was even higher (21 %) in the local Balsfjord stock of the Norwegian Sea, whereas it was nil in Pechora Sea samples. Similar or somewhat lower levels of genomic admixture were estimated from four diagnostic or nearly diagnostic nuclear allozyme loci. The absences of inter-locus and cytonuclear disequilibria, together with the patterns of mtDNA haplotype diversity, suggest recurrent backcrossing and hybridization over a long period in the post-glacial time frame. From a reassessment of published allozyme data, a hypothesis is presented that the patterns of intra-species geographical variation previously recorded in North European herrings may largely reflect varying levels of introgression. The study presents new information on the processes that affect the genetic structure of one of the most abundant fishes of the northern seas. It also adds to the knowledge on the occurrence of inter-species gene flow in marine fishes and on the consequences of trans-Arctic biotic invasions in general.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Elza Ivshina, Andrey Semushin, Andrey Smirnov, Oddvar Skogli, Tatyana Paneva and Victor Berger, who kindly provided samples or helped with collections of herring, and Stewart Grant and the two anonymous referees for useful comments and criticism. The study was supported by the Academy of Finland (project grant 127471) and Saint Petersburg State University (project grant 1.38.253.2014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, POB 17, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Hanna M. Laakkonen & Risto Väinölä

  2. Department of Ichthyology and Hydrobiology, St. Petersburg State University, 16 Line, 29, Vasilevsky Island, Saint Petersburg, 199178, Russia

    Petr Strelkov & Dmitry L. Lajus

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  1. Hanna M. Laakkonen
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  2. Petr Strelkov
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  3. Dmitry L. Lajus
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  4. Risto Väinölä
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Correspondence to Hanna M. Laakkonen.

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Communicated by M. Taylor.

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Laakkonen, H.M., Strelkov, P., Lajus, D.L. et al. Introgressive hybridization between the Atlantic and Pacific herrings (Clupea harengus and C. pallasii) in the north of Europe. Mar Biol 162, 39–54 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-014-2564-x

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