ELECTROPHORETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF ODD-YEAR PINK SALMON (ONCORHYNCHUS-GORBUSCHA) POPULATIONS FROM THE PACIFIC COAST OF RUSSIA, AND COMPARISON WITH SELECTED NORTH-AMERICAN POPULATIONS

We collected and electrophoretically analyzed a total of 558 fish from eight locations along the Pacific Coast of Russia. We successfully sc reened 44 enzyme-coding loci: 14 loci were polymorphic at the 0.95 lev el in at least one collection, an additional eight were polymorphic at the 0.99 level but not at the 0.95 level, and the remaining 22 were e ither monomorphic or exhibited only very rare variation in these colle ctions. Contingency chi(2) tests using the 23 most variable loci revea led significant heterogeneity among all eight collections (p = 0.028) but little or no significant heterogeneity among collections within ar eas (northeastern Kamchatka peninsula, p = 0.180; southwestern Kamchat ka, p = 0.533; and mainland adjacent to the northwestern Sea of Okhots k, p = 0.071). Multidimensional scaling and minimum spanning tree anal yses using genetic distances among collections indicated that geograph ic proximity of spawning sites was not associated with genetic similar ity. The eight odd-year pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) collectio ns from Russia were compared with 16 collections from North America (s outheastern Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington) using data for 3 3 loci. The Russian populations differed from the North American popul ations in their patterns of allelic Variation at many loci. The amount of genetic differentiation among populations from different rivers in Russia was comparable to that seen within similar-sized areas in Nort h America.