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HIERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION OF GENETIC VARIATION IN THE SAILFIN MOLLY, POECILIA LATIPINNA (PISCES: POECILIIDAE)
Author(s) -
Trexler Joel C.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1988.tb02519.x
Subject(s) - poecilia , poeciliidae , biology , gene flow , population , evolutionary biology , ecology , zoology , genetic variation , demography , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , genetics , gene , sociology
Twenty‐two percent of all allozyme variation documented in the sailfin molly ( Poecilia latipinna ) was attributable to regional differences, while only 3% was attributable to differences among demes within regions. Of the variation documented in a given region, 6–12% was attributable to variation among demes. Cluster analyses supported these conclusions quantitatively. Spatial‐autocorrelation analyses offered more explicit support: demes separated by increasingly greater distances were increasingly dissimilar. Analyses using F statistics and rare alleles suggest “effective gene flow rates” (the product of effective population size and gene flow rate) of approximately 4, a level more than sufficient to prevent local independence of gene‐frequency dynamics. These results, taken together, suggest that mollies do not have a population structure conducive to the operation of Wright's shifting‐balance process and make the striking patterns of interdemic variation in body size and sexual behavior observed in this species all the more interesting.