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Dissection and Flat-mounting of the Threespine Stickleback Branchial Skeleton
Published on: May 7, 2016
A test for within-lake niche differentiation in the nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius)
Federico C F Calboli1, Pär Byström2, Juha Merilä1
1Ecological Genetics Research Unit Department of Biosciences University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland.
Abstract:
Specialization for the use of different resources can lead to ecological speciation. Accordingly, there are numerous examples of ecologically specialized pairs of fish "species" in postglacial lakes. Using a polymorphic panel of single nucleotide variants, we tested for genetic footprints of within-lake population stratification in nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) collected from three habitats (viz. littoral, benthic, and pelagic) within a northern Swedish lake. Analyses of admixture, population structure, and relatedness all supported the conclusion that the fish from this lake form a single interbreeding unit.
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