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Introgressive hybridization between the Atlantic and Pacific herring (Clupea harengus and Clupea pallasii) in the White Sea, Barents and Kara Seas evidenced by microsatellites

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Abstract

In the North of Europe two sister species of herring—the Atlantic Clupea harengus and Pacific Clupea pallasii have post-glacially come into secondary contact. Although the breeding areas of the two species are thought to be separate, previous genetic studies based on allozyme and mitochondrial DNA data have supported the existence of introgression from the Atlantic herring to the Pacific herring. In this study, we employed microsatellite markers to explore the extent of introgressive hybridization between these fishes. Bayesian methods for assigning individuals to populations and identifying admixture proportions were applied to the genetic data based on ten microsatellites. Results indicated that 18 out of 464 Pacific herring (3.88%) were likely admixed. Some of the hybrid individuals contained genotypes suggesting that introgressive hybridization is an ongoing process. Despite some admixture, the Atlantic and Pacific herring gene pools remain sharply distinct (the average proportions of membership to “Atlantic” and “Pacific” clusters were QA = 0.998 and QP = 0.974, respectively), suggesting that hybridization was not frequent. The discovery of introgression among herring species opens new questions about the mechanisms underlying the observed pattern of genetic population differentiation in the North European Pacific herring.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Grant: Scientific Basis for Establishing a National Depository Bank of Living Systems, No. 14-50-00029).

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  1. Department of Ichthyology, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1(12), Moscow, 119991, Russia

    Anna V. Semenova & Andrey N. Stroganov

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  1. Anna V. Semenova
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Correspondence to Anna V. Semenova.

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Semenova, A.V., Stroganov, A.N. Introgressive hybridization between the Atlantic and Pacific herring (Clupea harengus and Clupea pallasii) in the White Sea, Barents and Kara Seas evidenced by microsatellites. Conserv Genet 19, 143–153 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-017-1036-5

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