The Genetic Population Structure of Lake Tanganyika’s Lates Species Flock, an Endemic Radiation of Pelagic Top Predators

Rick, Jessica A; Junker, Julian; Kimirei, Ismael A; Sweke, Emmanuel A; Mosille, Julieth B; Dinkel, Christian; Mwaiko, Salome; Seehausen, Ole; Wagner, Catherine E (2021). The Genetic Population Structure of Lake Tanganyika’s Lates Species Flock, an Endemic Radiation of Pelagic Top Predators. Journal of heredity, 113(2), pp. 145-159. Oxford University Press 10.1093/jhered/esab072

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Understanding genetic connectivity plays a crucial role in species conservation decisions, and genetic connectivity is an important component of modern fisheries management. In this study, we investigated the population genetics of four endemic Lates species of Lake Tanganyika (Lates stappersii, L. microlepis, L. mariae, and L. angustifrons) using reduced-representation genomic sequencing methods. We find the four species to be strongly differentiated from one another (mean interspecific FST = 0.665), with no evidence for contemporary admixture. We also find evidence for strong genetic structure within L. mariae, with the majority of individuals from the most southern sampling site forming a genetic group that is distinct from the individuals at other sampling sites. We find evidence for much weaker structure within the other three species (L. stappersii, L. microlepis, and L. angustifrons). Our ability to detect this weak structure despite small and unbalanced sample sizes and imprecise geographic sampling locations suggests the possibility for
further structure undetected in our study. We call for further research into the origins of the genetic differentiation in these four species—particularly that of L. mariae—which may be important for conservation and management of this culturally and economically important clade of fishes.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) > Aquatic Ecology

UniBE Contributor:

Junker, Julian Kaspar, Seehausen, Ole, Wagner, Catherine

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology

ISSN:

0022-1503

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

Language:

English

Submitter:

Marcel Häsler

Date Deposited:

04 Feb 2022 14:45

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:04

Publisher DOI:

10.1093/jhered/esab072

PubMed ID:

34865036

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/164624

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/164624

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