N. Billington et Rm. Strange, MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA ANALYSIS CONFIRMS THE EXISTENCE OF A GENETICALLY DIVERGENT WALLEYE POPULATION IN NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 124(5), 1995, pp. 770-776
Mitochondrial DNA analysis of 16 wall-eyes Srizostedion vitreum origin
ating from Luxapalila Creek in northeastern Mississippi showed that th
ey were genetically distinct (2.34% sequence variation) from walleyes
collected from the Mississippi River basin and other northern drainage
s. There was no genetic variation among the 16 fish analyzed. This wor
k confirms the existence of a unique genetic form of walleye in the To
mbigbee River drainage, but further research is required to determine
whether this distinct form occurs throughout the Gulf Coast drainages
of Mississippi and Alabama. Because the genetic integrity of this sout
hern walleye strain is threatened by stocking of northern walleye stra
ins and by invasion of northern strains via the Tennessee-Tombigbee Wa
terway, a careful monitoring program with genetic markers should be im
plemented.