Population genetic structure and its implication for conservation of Coreius guichenoti in the upper Yangtze River

Coreius guichenoti is an endemic fish that has been seriously threatened by dam construction in the upper reach of the Yangtze River, and conservation of this species has been a major concern. With a large portion of its spawning grounds disappearing due to dam construction, hatchery release is prop...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental biology of fishes 2015-08, Vol.98 (9), p.1999-2007
Main Authors: Cheng, Fei, Li, Wei, Klopfer, Michelle, Murphy, Brian R, Xie, Songguang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
Biomedical and Life Sciences
breeding
Conservation
Coreius guichenoti
cytochrome-c oxidase
Dam construction
Dams
Endangered & extinct species
Endemic animals
Endemic species
Environment
Fish
Fish conservation
Freshwater
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
gene flow
genes
Genetic structure
genetic variation
hatcheries
indigenous species
juveniles
Larvae
Life Sciences
Nature Conservation
Rivers
Spawning
Spawning grounds
Zoology
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Summary:Coreius guichenoti is an endemic fish that has been seriously threatened by dam construction in the upper reach of the Yangtze River, and conservation of this species has been a major concern. With a large portion of its spawning grounds disappearing due to dam construction, hatchery release is proposed as a primary strategy for conservation of this species. Genetic information for C. guichenoti is limited, and previous studies are insufficient for robustly detecting genetic structure among reproductively distinct populations. In the present study, the genetic structure of C. guichenoti was investigated using 609 base pairs of the cytochrome c oxidase I gene from drifting larvae and juveniles sampled in three different years. Our results detected two substantial genetic populations of C. guichenoti, with low levels of diversity and strong unidirectional gene-flow between the genetic populations. Based on the results of this study, releasing of juveniles from artificial reproduction should respect genetic differentiation between populations in C. guichenoti: inter-population captive breeding and translocations between the populations should be avoided. Our results suggest that it is crucial to reveal population genetic structures when considering conservation of endemic fish species.
ISSN:0378-1909
1573-5133
DOI:10.1007/s10641-015-0419-z