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Visual pigments of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus (L.)) and whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus (L.)) morphs in subarctic lakes

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Abstract

Foraging trait specialization is important for polymorphic Arctic charr and whitefish, but visual capabilities of different morphs are unexplored. Photoreceptor complements and absorbance spectra of rod visual pigments were studied by microspectrophotometry in two sympatric Arctic charr morphs and three sympatric whitefish morphs from two subarctic lakes. Four spectral classes of photoreceptor cells, rods and three types of cones, were found in all morphs of both species. Arctic charr rods had a pure A1 pigment (rhodopsin) with wavelength of maximum absorbance λ max ≈ 511–512 nm and no significant differences either between littoral and profundal morphs or sampling times (January/August). Rods of littoral and pelagic whitefish had practically pure A2 pigment (porphyropsin), whereas profundal whitefish had chromophore mixtures with A2:A1 ≈ 0.8:0.2 in June, A1 decreasing to a smaller fraction in September. λ max values of littoral and pelagic whitefish rods were similar and did not change significantly with season (539.3 ± 0.3 nm/539.3 ± 1.1 nm and 538.4 ± 0.4/539.8 ± 0.3 nm in June/September) but differed from profundal whitefish (λ max = 531.5 ± 0.8/536.7 ± 1.0 nm). Differences between Arctic charr and whitefish morphs suggest importance of local light environment determining visual pigment composition.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank O. Aikio, A. Eloranta, C. Lien, J. Marttila, K. Mäenpää and N. Kangas for help in the field work. The financial support of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Lapland Cultural Foundation, the Otto A. Malm Foundation, Societas Scientiarum Fennica and the Academy of Finland (Grants 206221 and 1140903, 1268566) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, University of Helsinki, Käsivarrentie 14622, 99490, Kilpisjärvi, Finland

    K. K. Kahilainen

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    K. K. Kahilainen

  3. Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    T. Smura, M. Jokela-Määttä & K. Donner

  4. Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, 9037, Tromsø, Norway

    R. Knudsen & P.-A. Amundsen

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  1. K. K. Kahilainen
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Correspondence to K. K. Kahilainen.

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Guest editors: M. Power, R. Knudsen, C. Adams, M. J. Hansen, J. B. Dempson, M. Jobling & M. Ferguson / Advances in Charr Ecology and Evolution

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Kahilainen, K.K., Smura, T., Knudsen, R. et al. Visual pigments of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus (L.)) and whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus (L.)) morphs in subarctic lakes. Hydrobiologia 783, 223–237 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2588-3

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