Morphometric and genetic analyses of two sympatric morphs of Arctic char ( Salvelinus alpinus ) in the Canadian High Arctic

Multivariate morphometric analyses were used to examine variation in head, body, and fin shape between two sympatric morphotypes of Arctic char ( Salvelinus alpinus (L., 1758)) from Lake Hazen, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Population structure of the Lake Hazen Arctic char was examined using f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Zoology
Main Authors: Arbour, J. H., Hardie, D. C., Hutchings, J. A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2011
Subjects:
Animal Science and Zoology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Arctic
Nunavut
Ellesmere Island
Canada
Lake Hazen
Salvelinus alpinus
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z10-100
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/Z10-100
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/Z10-100
Description
Summary:Multivariate morphometric analyses were used to examine variation in head, body, and fin shape between two sympatric morphotypes of Arctic char ( Salvelinus alpinus (L., 1758)) from Lake Hazen, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Population structure of the Lake Hazen Arctic char was examined using five microsatellite loci. The “small” morph was found to have a larger (primarily deeper) head, larger and more elongate fins, and a deeper lateral profile than the “large” morph. The morphs also differed in allometric growth patterns. The large and small morphs do not appear to represent genetically distinct populations. The head morphology of the Lake Hazen small and large morphs exhibited similarities to benthic and pelagic morphs (respectively) from other lakes. We hypothesize that the large morph may be adapted to high-efficiency swimming and that the small morph may be adapted to low-efficiency, high-acceleration swimming. Such functional trade-offs are not uncommon among fish specializing in dispersed or mobile prey (fish and plankton) and benthic prey, respectively. The lack of apparent genetic differentiation between the morphs may suggest that the morphological differences result, to some extent, from phenotypic plasticity. Based on these results and previous analyses, it seems reasonable to conclude that Lake Hazen Arctic char represent a resource polymorphism.

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