Genetic and morphobiological study of pacific herring populations from the seas of Japan and Okhotsk

摘要

The variation of seven to ten allozyme loci and three biological traits in 16 and 27 samples from Pacific herring spawning populations from the seas of Japan and Okhotsk was examined. The main conclusions were as follows. (1) Pacific herring populations have a marked intraspecific population structure. (2) In the seas of Japan and Okhotsk, several population aggregates were revealed; these aggregates can be regarded as genetically distinct local stocks. (3) On the basis of significant annual genetic variation within populations and features of population discrimination, it was assumed that a local stock in Pacific herring is a subdivided or genetically heterogeneous population. (4) Genetically independent local stocks include regional populations from Primorye and Sakhalin Bay, the pool of populations of Sakhalin-Hokkaido herring, and the pool of populations from northwestern Sakhalin and the Tunaicha Lake. (5) Ecological groups of herring are not independent population-genetic units; these groups may consist of representatives of different local stocks.