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Introgression of the Florida Largemouth Bass Genome into Native Populations in Alabama Public Lakes
Author(s) -
Dunham Rex A.,
Turner C. J.,
Reeves W. C.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8675(1992)012<0494:iotflb>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - introgression , micropterus , bass (fish) , stocking , biology , subspecies , fishery , fishing , secchi disk , ecology , genetics , gene , nutrient , eutrophication
Many public fishing lakes constructed in Alabama first contained the state's native largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides , which has allozyme frequencies similar to those of the pure northern subspecies, M. s. salmoides . Many of these lakes then were supplementally stocked with largemouth bass fingerlings with allozyme frequencies similar to those of the Florida subspecies M. s. floridanus . The supplemental introductions had varying success, and 10 of 11 populations we examined had undergone significant ( P < 0.05) allele‐frequency changes–representing introgression of Florida alleles‐at the diagnostic loci sAAT‐B *, sIDHP *, and sSOD *. We evaluated several variables for their effects on introgression: number of years (6–18) since initial stockings of Florida largemouth bass, number of stockings (3–11), stocking densities (334–1,430/hectare), Secchi disk visibility (18–33 cm), and latitude (31°30'–34°90'N). All variables except latitude affected or were correlated with percent introgression, which ranged from 11 to 69%. Number of stockings was identified by step‐wise multiple regression as the most influential variable ( r 2 = 0.77) on introgression. The best two‐variable model ( r 2 = 0.82), which also incorporated years since initial stocking, was not different from the best one‐variable model. Similar experiments previously reported from Texas also identified number of stockings as having the most influence on introgresSion; however, water clarity was positively correlated with introgression of Florida largemouth bass alleles in the Texas study but negatively correlated in ours.