Abstract
Glacial cycles and pre-glacial drainage patterns have imbued the Interior Highlands of the United States with a rich suite of freshwater taxa and phylogroups. However, supplementation of sportfish from the Great Lakes into the waterbodies of this region, including the Missouri, Ouachita, Black, White, and Little Red River drainages, may have obscured phylogeographic patterns. Walleye (Sander vitreus), one of the most common sportfish in the eastern US, inhabit the Interior Highlands but their population genetic composition and structure in this region has received little attention. We examined the genetic composition of walleye (n = 643) in the Interior Highlands using microsatellite markers and a subsample (n = 188) with mitochondrial DNA and found significant genetic differences among walleye in our study area. Walleye from the Missouri, Ouachita, White, and Little Red drainages were most closely related to a Great Lakes reference sample, a common stocking source. However, the Black River, in the easternmost portion of the Interior Highlands, contained walleye with mitochondrial DNA that was closely related to walleye from the Eastern Highlands. The remainder of the study area drainages contained a mix of walleye groups, more closely related to Great Lakes rather than Highlands walleye but not definitively the product of stocking. Though managers have relied on mitochondrial markers for stock identification in the past, we recommend that walleye in regions receiving little research attention be analyzed with nuclear markers to better understand and preserve genetic diversity and that managers stock with local walleye only within the drainages that we identified as genetically distinct: Black, Missouri, and White/Little Red/Ouachita.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the many field staff who contributed samples and provided research support for this study including Kelly Winningham, Matt Schroeder, Nathan Recktenwald, Chris Brooke, Jason Persinger, Christina Kelsay, Dave Woods, Shane Bush, Blake Stephens, Mary Scott, Allison Asher, Brent Timmons, Jeremy Risley, Katrina Knott, and Jon Stein. Michael Sandel generously provided Lake Erie and North Dakota walleye samples. We also thank Jonathan Orech, Jessica Brooks, Hilary K. Canada, and Michelle Anderson for support in the lab. Joe Gunn, Eric Hallerman, Robert Hrabik, and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on the manuscript. We are grateful for administrative project support from John Ackerson, Andy Cornforth, David Duvernell, Dave Herzog, Chris Kennedy, Tom Kulowiec, A. J. Pratt, Tony Spicci, and Kasey Whiteman. Supplemental funding was provided by the Arkansas State University Department of Biological Sciences. We thank the Arkansas Center for Biodiversity Collections for cataloging a subset of voucher specimens of the Black River Walleye used in this study into the Arkansas State University Museum of Zoology (catalog numbers ASUMZ 20281-20287).
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L.B. C.T. and B.F. wrote the main manuscript text. L.B prepared figures 1-3, B.F. prepared figure 4. P.C. D.K. J.K. and L.B. conceived of the study and secured funding. P.C. and D.K. collected samples and organized collection efforts. C.T., D.T., and L.E. performed lab work and provided lab support. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Berkman, L.K., Titus, C.L., Thomas, D.R. et al. Genetic differences among the Interior Highlands walleye (Sander vitreus) with mitochondrial and nuclear markers indicate the need for updated stocking practices. Conserv Genet 24, 347–359 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-023-01504-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-023-01504-7