Allozyme and Microsatellite DNA Analyses of Lingcod from Puget Sound, Washington, and Adjoining Waters

Abstract

In all, 472 lingcod Ophiodon elongatus from six areas of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the outer coast of Washington were assayed for 44 allozyme and 9 microsatellite DNA loci to investigate possible population subdivision. Levels of genetic variation at many of the allozyme loci and all of the microsatellite DNA loci were reasonably high, and there was no evidence of significant Hardy–Weinberg or linkage disequilibrium. Pairwise genotypic tests of population differentiation showed no evidence of genetic structuring among the 23 variable allozyme loci, the 9 microsatellite loci, or all 32 variable loci combined. The results of this investigation are consistent with the existence of a single genetic stock of lingcod throughout the greater Puget Sound region, including the Strait of Juan de Fuca and San Juan Islands. Despite the fact that most of the collections we analyzed did not consist of spawning fish from the spawning grounds, we believe that the combined absence of significant outcomes in the population differentiation tests and the absence of significant heterozygote deficits at any of the 32 variable loci make it highly unlikely that there is significant genetic divergence among the greater Puget Sound populations analyzed in this study. Allozyme data obtained from inland populations in this study were compared with previously published allozyme data from the outer coast. No difference was detected when summed over all variable loci.