Variable habitat use supports fine-scale population differentiation of a freshwater piscivore (northern pike, Esox lucius) along salinity gradients in brackish lagoons.

ABSTRACT: In mobile animals, selection pressures resulting from spatio-temporally varying ecological factors often drive adaptations in migration behavior and associated physiological phenotypes. These adaptations may manifest in ecologically and genetically distinct ecotypes within populations. We studied a meta-population of northern pike (Esox lucius) in brackish environments and examined intrapopulation divergence along environmental gradients. Behavioral phenotypes in habitat use were characterized via otolith microchemistry in 120 individuals sampled from brackish lagoons and adjacent freshwater tributaries. We genotyped 1514 individual pike at 33 highly informative genetic markers. The relationship between behavioral phenotype and genotype was examined in a subset of 101 pikes for which both

SUBMITTER: Rittweg TD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11599437 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature