DNA barcoding of eight North American coregonine species

Abstract

Coregonine fishes have a circumpolar distribution in the Arctic and sub-Arctic Northern Hemisphere. This subfamily of Salmonidae consists of three genera: Prosopium, Stenodus and Coregonus, including over 30 species. Many species overlap spatially and are difficult to distinguish based on morphological characteristics, especially as larvae or juveniles. Here we present a method for rapid and cost-effective species identification for representatives of the three genera based on sequence variation at the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI). We examined eight species common to North America with distributional overlap in Alaska. Mean pairwise sequence divergence for all eight species was 7.04% and ranged from 0.46% to 14.23%. This sequence variation was used to develop a genetic assay based on restriction fragment length polymorphism. In a blind test, this assay provided correct species assignment for 48 of 49 individuals representing all eight species. The single incorrect assignment may reflect hybridization between two closely related species. This DNA barcode-based assay promises to aid fishery managers and researchers by providing a cost-effective alternative to large-scale sequence analysis for identification of North American coregonine fishes.

Reconstructing the lionfish invasion: insights into Greater Caribbean biogeography

“…As shown in other studies on fish and animal groups with cryptic morphology (e.g. Schlei et al. , 2008; Vandersea et al.…”

“…As shown in other studies on fish and animal groups with cryptic morphology (e.g. Schlei et al, 2008;Vandersea et al, 2008), mtDNA 'barcoding' provides a useful tool to discriminate the current geographical range of invasive P. miles and P. volitans. Although modal differences in dorsal-and anal-fin counts between the two species are evident, the overlapping meristic counts preclude unambiguous identifications (see Tables 1 and 2 in Schultz, 1986).…”

Using DNA barcodes to connect adults and early life stages of marine fishes from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: potential in fisheries management

“…For example, Rock et al (2008) analysed 35 fish species from the Scotia Sea, reporting that COI (cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene) provided effective species-level discrimination that was unaffected by broad geographic sampling. Schlei et al (2008) reported similar results in their study of eight coregonine species with distributional overlap in Alaska. Barcode comparisons of fish populations from North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Australasian waters showed no significant spatial genetic differentiation in 13 of 15 species, whereas two other species included two highly divergent barcode clusters, suggesting that they were each likely to be a species pair (Ward et al 2008a).…”

Increased taxonomic resolution of Laurentian Great Lakes ichthyoplankton through DNA barcoding: A case study comparison against visual identification of larval fishes from Stokes Bay, Lake Huron

“…These challenges in visual species identification are also true for some adult coregonines, when individuals have proven difficult to distinguish using traditional meristic and morphometric characteristics (Todd and Stedman, 1989;Schlei et al, 2008;Teletchea, 2009). The coregonines Coregonus clupeaformis (lake whitefish), Coregonus artedi (lake herring), Coregonus hoyi (bloater) and Prosopium cylindraceum (round whitefish), are important species in the Laurentian Great Lakes for ecological, cultural and economic reasons (Roth et al, 2012).…”