TY - JOUR
T1 - Morphology and genetic investigation of flatfish interspecies hybrids (Pleuronectes platessa X Platichthys flesus) from the Baltic Sea
AU - He, Song
AU - Mork, Jarle
AU - Larsen, William B.
AU - Møller, Peter R.
AU - Berumen, Michael L.
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: We thank Krag, M.A. Carl, H. and Wendelin, K. from Natural History Museum of Denmark and Sparrevon, C. from DTU Aqua for help with collecting the specimens. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Bioscience Core Laboratory is thanked for laboratory support. We acknowledge Flot, J.F. and Sinclair-Taylor, T. for helpful discussions and assistance with figures. We also thank anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. KAUST baseline research funds (to Berumen, M.L.) and the Aage V. Jensens Fonde provided financial support.
PY - 2020/1/28
Y1 - 2020/1/28
N2 - Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and flounder (Platichthys flesus) are economically valuable flatfishes found on the European shelf that are known to naturally and artificially hybridize. Putative hybrids have intermediate coloration which suggest an interspecies status between plaice and flounder. To further investigate this hybridization process, genetic testing was performed on individuals from morphologically identified hybrid samples from the Baltic Sea. Morphological examinations indicate that putative hybrids are morphologically more similar to plaice than flounder. Putative hybrids are difficult to differentiate from plaice without thorough morphological examination. However, the number of vertebrae and scale thrones can morphologically differentiate plaice, flounder, and putative hybrids. Purebred plaice and flounder samples were well-discriminated by nuclear markers TMO-4c4, pthrP, and microsatellites. The analysis results showed that the genetic status of some putative hybrids were in an intermediate position between their parent species populations, which confirmed their hybrid identities. Mitochondrial marker COI results suggest uni-directional maternal material contributions from plaice for this hybridization process. Despite consistent sampling effort at all study sites, putative hybrids were only observed along the western edge of the Baltic Sea and not found in the further west or northern sampling locations.
AB - Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and flounder (Platichthys flesus) are economically valuable flatfishes found on the European shelf that are known to naturally and artificially hybridize. Putative hybrids have intermediate coloration which suggest an interspecies status between plaice and flounder. To further investigate this hybridization process, genetic testing was performed on individuals from morphologically identified hybrid samples from the Baltic Sea. Morphological examinations indicate that putative hybrids are morphologically more similar to plaice than flounder. Putative hybrids are difficult to differentiate from plaice without thorough morphological examination. However, the number of vertebrae and scale thrones can morphologically differentiate plaice, flounder, and putative hybrids. Purebred plaice and flounder samples were well-discriminated by nuclear markers TMO-4c4, pthrP, and microsatellites. The analysis results showed that the genetic status of some putative hybrids were in an intermediate position between their parent species populations, which confirmed their hybrid identities. Mitochondrial marker COI results suggest uni-directional maternal material contributions from plaice for this hybridization process. Despite consistent sampling effort at all study sites, putative hybrids were only observed along the western edge of the Baltic Sea and not found in the further west or northern sampling locations.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/661363
UR - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0165783620300151
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078302408&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.fishres.2020.105498
DO - 10.1016/j.fishres.2020.105498
M3 - Article
SN - 0165-7836
VL - 225
SP - 105498
JO - Fisheries Research
JF - Fisheries Research
ER -