Polymorphism of the Lake, Migratory Populations and Reared Broodstocks of Whitefish (Coregonus spp. L.) in Northern Poland and its Importance in Maintaining Ecological Biodiversity

Özet

Whitefish of the genus Coregonus is a valuable component of ichtyofauna, whose area of occurrence has decreased inthe recent years. While whitefish still occur in natural populations in north-western Poland, the diversity of Polish whitefish ispoorly understood. In the present study we investigate migratory whitefish from the Oder River as coastal whitefish fromeastern and western populations of the Polish Baltic Sea, whitefish from lakes of northern Poland and raised whitefish stockfrom hatcheries. The subject of the study was the application of mtDNA PCR-RFLP and sequencing techniques to evaluatethe genetic potential of the whitefish populations. For this purpose ND1, ND5/6 and a D-loop fragment were analysed. Themost haplotypes were observed only in the migratory whitefish population from the Oder River. The greatest genetic distanceof 0.029 was between the migratory populations from Lake Dąbie, Oder River, and the populations from Lake Morzycko, thePomeranian Bay and the eastern migratory populations. The obtained results showed low variability between the analysedpopulations of the migratory, lake and whitefish broodstocks. The results of this study are a valuable molecularcharacterization of the populations and will provide data to conduct further genetic monitoring required for the ongoingprotection and reintroduction activities.