Browsing by Subject "aquaculture"

Arapaima gigas is one of the world’s largest freshwater fishes and it is native to the Amazon region. The species is over-exploited and sustainable long-term conservation strategies are needed to maintain the genetic diversity of the species. The aim of this study was to analyze the genetic diversity of Peruvian Arapaima gigas populations. The microsatellite data was collected as a part of a three-year project by the Regional Government of San Martín (GORESAM) and Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute (FGFRI). The data consisted of 15 microsatellite loci and 324 samples from three populations, Iquitos, Paiche, and Pucallpa. The samples for Iquitos and Pucallpa were collected from populations in the Amazon basin. Samples of Paiche were collected from a captive population in a fish farming research center. The average numbers of alleles and genotypes ranged between 1.9-3.3 and 2.5-4.6, respectively. Population Pucallpa showed the highest average level of heterozygosity (0.41), whereas the lowest level was observed in population Iquitos (0.25). There were altogether 13 loci which showed a statistically significant excess of heterozygosity, and nine loci with significant deficiency of heterozygosity across the three populations. The FIS-values were in accordance with most of the significant deviations indicating the excess or deficiency of heterozygosity. The average FIT-value (0.226) indicated a slight increase of homozygotes. Populations Iquitos and Paiche were on a state of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, but population Pucallpa showed a statistically significant deviation from the state of equilibrium. The pairwise FST-values ranged between 0.169-0.373, and they indicate that the three studied populations are genetically different. In addition, the values of Nei’s genetic distance (D) and full-pedigree likelihood analysis indicate a genetic differentiation between the populations. The number of migrants (Nm) between the three populations was estimated based on the mean frequency of private alleles (p(1) = 0.085) and the mean sample size (108 individuals). The number of migrants was 0.273 after the correction for sample size. The genetic diversity within and between the Peruvian populations resembles the results obtained in other studies of Arapaima gigas in the Amazon basin. Sustainable fish farming could offer a solution in maintaining the genetic diversity of the species.