Genetic relationships among populations of northern pike (Esox lucius)

We assessed genetic variation, using microsatellite markers, in 14 populations of northern pike (Esox lucius) in the North Central United States and in six populations from Quebec, Alaska, Siberia, and Finland. Eight of 13 loci examined were polymorphic in at least one population with an average heterozygosity at all loci and across all populations of 0.14. The R-st and F-st values indicated differentiation among populations (R-st = 0.61, F-st = 0.42). Although microsatellite variation found in northern pike was much lower than that found in sympatric and other fish species, the polymorphisms differentiated populations of greater geographical proximity than was possible in prior studies using allozymes and mitochondrial DNA. We generated UPGMA-clustering phenograms based on five genetic distance measures with 2000 bootstrap replicates per measure. All measures yielded highly repeatable population structure between continents (supporting values = 92.4-100%) and within Finland (42.3-98%). Four measures differentiated the Alaskan population and Young Lake (Great Lakes drainage) from other North American populations (56.6-87.7%). Relationships among other North Central United States populations were unclear, as indicated by low supporting values. Results support the hypotheses of one refugium in the North Central United States and more than one refugium in Europe during the last glaciation.