Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus and Shovelnose Sturgeon S. platorynchus are congeners occupying overlapping habitats within the Missouri and Mississippi River basins. The Pallid Sturgeon is listed as federally endangered under the Endangered Species Act in the United States, whereas the Shovelnose Sturgeon is not. Observational data across the range of both species include specimens that appear to be phenotypically and genotypically intermediate between Pallid Sturgeon and Shovelnose Sturgeon, though these occurrences are most frequent in the Mississippi River. Based on both morphological and genetic data, the variability and overlap within Scaphirhynchus spp. phenotypes has resulted in debate about the accuracy of existing identification methods of Pallid Sturgeon within the Mississippi River portion of its range (i.e., distinguishing Pallid, Shovelnose, and hybrid sturgeons). As a result, increasing questions have surfaced relative to species identification, implications of purported hybridization, the accuracy of local demographic estimations, and how those effect management actions. This project is the first comprehensive analysis to compare genotypic, phenotypic, and field identification data in order to evaluate the accuracy of existing field identification of the two congener Scaphirhynchus spp. and their purported hybrids in the lower Mississippi River. Our results indicate current field identification methods are not reliable for identifying Pallid Sturgeon in the lower Mississippi River, likely due to introgressive hybridization between Pallid and Shovelnose sturgeons and the resulting continuum of morphotypes and genotypes in hybridized individuals. We conclude that reliance on current morphological‐based field identification methods to quantify Pallid Sturgeon may lead to inaccurate assessments that could negatively impact the conservation and management of this endangered species, including the use of hybrid broodstock for conservation stocking and erroneous estimates of stock and recruitment.

Conservation of threatened and endangered species often involves large-scale collaboration across jurisdictional boundaries, but such efforts are typically hampered by a lack of consistent monitoring data at local, regional, and species-distributional scales. Contemporary methods of genetic monitoring that are grounded in sequencing-based approaches offer a powerful means to achieve the data consistency necessary for conservation of high-profile species. Here, we describe the collaborative, multiagency development of a genotyping-in-thousands by sequencing panel for genetic monitoring of threatened Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus across its range in North America. The resulting panel consists of 266 single nucleotide polymorphisms, a subset of which differentiate Salvelinus species (Arctic Char S. alpinus, Brook Trout S. fontinalis, Bull Trout, Dolly Varden S. malma, Lake Trout S. namaycush, and Whitespotted Char S. leucomaenis), as well as one sex ID locus. We then used case studies from the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains to demonstrate the efficacy of the panel for addressing local conservation needs (e.g., genetic variation, genetic differentiation, genetic assignment tests, and number of effective breeders) and compatibility with legacy data sets. Future genotyping with this panel will provide opportunities for improved conservation prioritization across the species range and collaboration among the numerous agencies charged with conserving this species. This effort provides framework to develop population genetic tools that will contribute to robust and efficient monitoring of biodiversity.As molecular tools have become integrated into fisheries management, there has been a growing application of genetic monitoring to address informational needs (Schwartz et al. 2007). Genetic monitoring offers the opportunity not only to monitor vital genetic metrics (e.g., genetic diversity, inbreeding, effective population size) but also life history, stock mixtures, population dynamics, and interactions with humans (Koike et al. 2008;Dowling

Individual marking or tagging of organisms has increased knowledge of biology and spatial ecology of numerous species, which is essential for effective fish and wildlife management and conser-

No abstract