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

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 51209202), Science and Technology Research Project of China Three Gorges Corporation (CT-12-08-01), the special funded project of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2013T60764). The participation of Brian R. Murphy was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (Hatch Project 230537) and by the Acorn Alcinda Foundation, Lewes, Delaware, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China

    Fei Cheng & Songguang Xie

  2. Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China

    Wei Li

  3. Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Michelle Klopfer & Brian R. Murphy

  4. Key Laboratory of Sustainable Fisheries and Environmental Protection for Lakes of Northern Jiangsu, Huai’an Research Center, Institute of Hydrobiology, Huai’an, Jiangsu, 223002, China

    Songguang Xie

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  1. Fei Cheng
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Correspondence to Songguang Xie.

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Cheng, F., Li, W., Klopfer, M. et al. Population genetic structure and its implication for conservation of Coreius guichenoti in the upper Yangtze River. Environ Biol Fish 98, 1999–2007 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0419-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0419-z

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