Not that clean: Aquaculture-mediated translocation of cleaner fish has led to hybridization on the northern edge of the species' range
Translocation and introduction of non-native organisms can have major impacts on local populations and ecosystems. Nevertheless, translocations are common practices in agri- and aquaculture. Each year, millions of wild-caught wrasses are transported large distances to be used as cleaner fish for parasite control in marine salmon farms. Recently, it was documented that translocated cleaner fish are able to escape and reproduce with local wild populations. This is especially a challenge in Norway, which is the world's largest salmon producer. Here, a panel of 84 informative SNPs was developed to identify the presence of nonlocal corkwing wrasse (Symphodus melops) escapees and admixed individu…
Genetic analysis of goldsinny wrasse reveals evolutionary insights into population connectivity and potentialevidence of inadverent translocationvia aquaculture
The salmon industry is heavily dependent on wrasse for delousing infected fish. The goldsinny wrasse is numerically the most important, and each year, millions are harvested from the wild and transported large distances into fish farms. Population genetic knowledge is required to sustainably exploit this species. Here, 1051 goldsinny wrasses from 16 locations across Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Spain were genotyped with 14 microsatellite and 36 SNP markers. Within-population genetic diversity decreased towards north, and a genetic break was observed across the North Sea. Samples from Northern Norway differed from rest of the Scandinavian samples, and samples from the British Isles di…
“A cleaner break”: Genetic divergence between geographic groups and sympatric phenotypes revealed in ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta)
Abstract Capture and long‐distance translocation of cleaner fish to control lice infestations on marine salmonid farms has the potential to influence wild populations via overexploitation in source regions, and introgression in recipient regions. Knowledge of population genetic structure is therefore required. We studied the genetic structure of ballan wrasse, a phenotypically diverse and extensively used cleaner fish, from 18 locations in Norway and Sweden, and from Galicia, Spain, using 82 SNP markers. We detected two very distinct genetic groups in Scandinavia, northwestern and southeastern. These groups were split by a stretch of sandy beaches in southwest Norway, representing a habitat…
Data from: “A cleaner break”: genetic divergence between geographic groups and sympatric phenotypes revealed in ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta)
Capture and long-distance translocation of cleaner fish to control lice infestations on marine salmonid farms has the potential to influence wild populations via overexploitation in source regions, and introgression in recipient regions. Knowledge of population genetic structure is therefore required. We studied the genetics of ballan wrasse, a phenotypically diverse and extensively used cleaner fish, from 18 locations in Norway and Sweden, and from Galicia, Spain. We detected two very distinct genetic groups in Scandinavia, northwest and southeast. These groups were split by a stretch of sandy beaches in southwest Norway, representing a habitat discontinuity for this rocky shore associated…