Premium
Effects of intraspecific hybridisation between two hatchery‐reared strains of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar , on juvenile survival and fitness‐related traits
Author(s) -
Audet C. L.,
Wilson C. C.,
Pitcher T. E.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
fisheries management and ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1365-2400
pISSN - 0969-997X
DOI - 10.1111/fme.12195
Subject(s) - outbreeding depression , biology , intraspecific competition , salmo , hatchery , heterosis , hybrid , allopatric speciation , population , ecology , juvenile , fishery , inbreeding depression , zoology , inbreeding , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , botany , sociology
Intraspecific hybridisation may result in hybrid offspring exhibiting superior (heterosis) or inferior (outbreeding depression) fitness relative to their parental populations. As both have been demonstrated in salmonids, consequences of interbreeding between divergent populations are relevant to their conservation. Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. were extirpated from Lake Ontario by the late 19th Century due to anthropogenic causes. Multiple allopatric populations of hatchery‐reared Atlantic salmon are being stocked in an effort to re‐establish a self‐sustaining population. This study evaluated whether interbreeding between Sebago Lake (Maine) and LaHave River (Nova Scotia) individuals will result in heterosis or outbreeding depression in juveniles. This was accomplished through full‐factorial 2 × 2 mating crosses between the strains and comparing multiple fitness‐related traits between the cross types. Hybrid juveniles displayed no signs of outbreeding depression nor heterosis. Further studies on comparative fitness of backcross and F 2 hybrids are recommended to assess potential consequences for this and similar restoration efforts.