Genetic Evidence Suggesting Subspecific Differences between Northern and Southern Populations of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
Stoneking M, Wagner DJ, Hildebrand AC. 1981. Genetic Evidence Suggesting Subspecific Differences between Northern and Southern Populations of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Copeia. 1981(4):810-819
The existence of a taxonomically distinct southern strain of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) has not been thoroughly investigated by genetic studies. To this end eight populations of wild brook trout, including three from Pennsylvania, two from New York, two from Tennessee and one from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, were surveyed by starch gel electrophoresis for 39 loci. The frequency of observed heterozygotes was 0.081, which is higher than values reported for other wild salmonid populations. The mean genetic similarity between northern and southern brook trout populations was 0.890. This, along with other evidence, suggests subspecific differences between northern and southern brook trout, particularly those from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Stoneking, M; Wagner, D; Hildebrand, A
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC, TN