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A peculiar relationship between genetic diversity and adaptability in invasive exotic species: bluegill sunfish as a model species

  • Special Issue
  • Evolution in biological invasion
  • Published:
Ecological Research

Abstract

A peculiar relationship exists between population genetics and invasion biology. Introduced populations often suffer a depletion of genetic variation, but they can persist and adapt to new environments. Here, we show that this relationship is observed in bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), an invasive exotic fish in Japan. Genetic analysis using selectively neutral genetic markers reconfirmed that the bluegill introduced into Japan from the United States in 1960 had a single origin with only 15 founders. The analysis also shows that in the process of range expansion, the introduced bluegills experienced severe depletion of genetic diversity due to the founder effect and/or genetic drift. Despite such a decline in genetic diversity, the bluegill populations exhibited a divergent feeding morphology in response to the colonized environments. Such a morphological divergence can facilitate prey exploitation, thereby causing a greater negative impact on native prey resources. Further, in a trophically polymorphic bluegill population in Lake Biwa, physiological characteristics and genetic structures of the intestinal bacterial communities were associated with the difference in diet among the trophic morphs in the host bluegill population. This empirical evidence suggests that despite the severe decline in genetic diversity, the introduced bluegill populations rapidly adapted to the new environment and formed diverse functional relationships with the native bacterial community. Thus, these findings suggest that genetic variation at selectively neutral markers does not always predict adaptability and invasiveness in introduced populations.

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Acknowledgements

This study could not have been conducted without the kindly assistance of many people. We especially express our thanks to Scott Gritters (Iowa Department Natural Resources), Steve Filipek (Arkansas Game and Fish Commission), and James Kitchell, Motomi Genkai-Kato and Ted Cummings (Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin) for the field assistance and suggestions in the United States. Thanks also go to O. Katano, Z. Kawabata, T. Kenzaka, Y. Kohmatsu, K. Saitoh, K. Tani, Y. Taniguchi, K. Matsui, K. Nakai, M. Nasu, and M. Yuma for their valuable suggestions throughout the study. This study was financially supported by the Nippon Insurance Federation and the Fisheries Agency in Japan. The study that examined the relationship between introduced bluegill and bacterial communities was also partly supported by the JSPS Grant-in Aid for Basic Research (A) (16207001), and by the Grant for the Biodiversity Research of the 21st Century COE (A14).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gifu Prefectural Research Institute for Freshwater Fish and Aquatic Environments, Kasada, Kawashima, Kakamigahara, Gifu, 501-6021, Japan

    Ryuji Yonekura

  2. Faculty of Bioresources, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachiya, Tsu, 514-8507, Japan

    Kouichi Kawamura

  3. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan

    Kimiko Uchii

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  1. Ryuji Yonekura
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  2. Kouichi Kawamura
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Correspondence to Ryuji Yonekura.

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Yonekura, R., Kawamura, K. & Uchii, K. A peculiar relationship between genetic diversity and adaptability in invasive exotic species: bluegill sunfish as a model species. Ecol Res 22, 911–919 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-007-0357-0

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