Genetic Differentiation among Lake Trout Strains Stocked into Lake Ontario

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Abstract
The lake trout Salvelinus namaycush is the focus of an international effort by fishery management agencies to restore this once-native species to Lake Ontario. Evaluation of reproductive success and comparisons among stocked lake trout strains require genetic markers. We used allozyme variation to make genetic comparisons among strains of lake trout stocked into Lake Ontario. Forty-two proteins presumed to be encoded by 102 loci were resolved electrophoretically; 18 loci were polymorphic. Among 16 samples from five principal origins (Finger Lakes, Great Lakes basin, northern New York–Adirondack, Manitoba, and mixed origins–Lake Ontario), the average observed heterozygosity was 0.029, and the proportion of polymorphic loci was 0.125. Significant differences occurred among the 16 samples at all 18 possible locus comparisons. The average Fst value was 0.14. Hierarchical analysis indicated that the variation among samples within an origin was greatest within the Great Lakes basin, which included the ...