Unanticipated population structure of European grayling in its northern distribution: implications for conservation prioritization.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The European grayling (Thymallus thymallus) is a salmonid fish native to Europe, with a distribution ranging from England and France to the Ural Mountains of north-western Russia. The majority of grayling populations inhabit freshwater rivers and lakes but some populations also occupy brackish water in northern parts of the Baltic Sea. Previous population genetic studies have demonstrated that grayling populations in Finland, Estonia and Russia belong to a single mitochondrial lineage and exhibit high levels of differentiation even at a small geographic scale. As a result, we predicted that grayling populations should not cluster regionally. Despite the extensive amount of genetic research that has been carried out on grayling, comprehensive national-level information on

SUBMITTER: Swatdipong A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2676281 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature