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Towards the conservation of the crucian carp in Europe: Prolific hybridization but no evidence for introgression between native and non-native taxa

Jeffries, Daniel; Lawson-Handley, Lori; Lamatsch, Dunja; Olsén, K. Håkan; Sayer, Carl D.; Hänfling, Bernd

Authors

Daniel Jeffries

Dunja Lamatsch

K. Håkan Olsén

Carl D. Sayer

Bernd Hänfling



Abstract

Hybridization plays a pivotal role in evolution, influencing local adaptation and speciation. However, it can also reduce biodiversity, which is especially damaging when native and non-native species meet. Hybridization can threaten native species via competition (with vigorous hybrids), reproductive resource wastage and gene introgression. The latter, in particular, could result in increased fitness in invasive species, decreased fitness of natives and compromise reintroduction or recovery conservation practices. In this study, we use a combination of RAD sequencing and microsatellites for a range-wide sample set of 1366 fish to evaluate the potential for hybridization and introgression between native crucian carp (Carassius carassius) and three non-native taxa (Carassius auratus auratus, Carassius auratus gibelio and Cyprinus carpio) in European water bodies. We found hybridization between native and non-native taxa in 82% of populations with non-natives present, highlighting the potential for substantial ecological impacts from hybrids on crucian carp populations. However, despite such high rates of hybridization, we could find no evidence of introgression between these taxa. The presence of triploid backcrosses in at least two populations suggests that the lack of introgression among these taxa is likely due to meiotic dysfunction in hybrids, leading to the production of polyploid offspring which are unable to reproduce sexually. This result is promising for crucian reintroduction programs, as it implies limited risk to the genetic integrity of source populations. Future research should investigate the reproductive potential of triploid hybrids and the ecological pressures hybrids impose on C. carassius.

Citation

Jeffries, D., Lawson-Handley, L., Lamatsch, D., Olsén, K. H., Sayer, C. D., & Hänfling, B. (2024). Towards the conservation of the crucian carp in Europe: Prolific hybridization but no evidence for introgression between native and non-native taxa. Molecular ecology, 33(19), Article e17515. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17515

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 13, 2024
Online Publication Date Aug 30, 2024
Publication Date Oct 1, 2024
Deposit Date Aug 30, 2024
Publicly Available Date Sep 2, 2024
Journal Molecular Ecology
Print ISSN 0962-1083
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 33
Issue 19
Article Number e17515
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17515
Keywords Genomics; Invasive species; Polyploid; Postzygotic isolation; RADseq
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4792999

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Copyright Statement
© 2024 The Author(s). Molecular Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.




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