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The evolution of threespine sticklebacks in freshwater lakes constitutes a well-studied example of a phenotypic radiation that has produced numerous instances of parallel evolution, but the exact selective agents that drive these changes are not yet fully understood. We present a comparative study across 74 freshwater populations of threespine stickleback in Norway to test whether evolutionary changes in stickleback morphology are consistent with adaptations to physical parameters such as lake depth, lake area, lake perimeter and shoreline complexity, variables thought to reflect different habitats and feeding niches. Only weak indications of adaptation were found. Instead, populations seem to have diversified in phenotypic directions consistent with allometric scaling relationships. This indicates that evolutionary constraints may have played a role in structuring phenotypic variation across freshwater populations of stickleback. We also tested whether the number of lateral plates evolved in response to lake calcium levels, but found no evidence for this hypothesis., (© 2013 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2013 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.)

Gene flow has the potential to both constrain and facilitate adaptation to local environmental conditions. The early stages of population divergence can be unstable because of fluctuating levels of gene flow. Investigating temporal variation in gene flow during the initial stages of population divergence can therefore provide insights to the role of gene flow in adaptive evolution. Since the recent colonization of Lake Lesjaskogsvatnet in Norway by European grayling (Thymallus thymallus), local populations have been established in over 20 tributaries. Multiple founder events appear to have resulted in reduced neutral variation. Nevertheless, there is evidence for local adaptation in early life-history traits to different temperature regimes. In this study, microsatellite data from almost a decade of sampling were assessed to infer population structuring and its temporal stability. Several alternative analyses indicated that spatial variation explained 2-3 times more of the divergence in the system than temporal variation. Over all samples and years, there was a significant correlation between genetic and geographic distance. However, decomposed pairwise regression analysis revealed differing patterns of genetic structure among local populations and indicated that migration outweighs genetic drift in the majority of populations. In addition, isolation by distance was observable in only three of the six years, and signals of population bottlenecks were observed in the majority of samples. Combined, the results suggest that habitat-specific adaptation in this system has preceded the development of consistent population substructuring in the face of high levels of gene flow from divergent environments.

Adaptability depends on the presence of additive genetic variance for important traits. Yet few estimates of additive genetic variance and heritability are available for wild populations, particularly so for fishes. Here, we estimate heritability of length-at-age for wild-living brown trout (Salmo trutta), based on long-term mark-recapture data and pedigree reconstruction based on large-scale genotyping at 15 microsatellite loci. We also tested for the presence of maternal and paternal effects using a Bayesian version of the Animal model. Heritability varied between 0.16 and 0.31, with reasonable narrow confidence bands, and the total phenotypic variance increased with age. When introducing dam as an additional random effect (accounting for c. 7% of total phenotypic variance), the level of additive genetic variance and heritability decreased (0.12-0.21). Parental size (both for sires and for dams) positively influenced length-at-age for juvenile trout--either through direct parental effects or through genotype-environment correlations. Length-at-age is a complex trait reflecting the effects of a number of physiological, behavioural and ecological processes. Our data show that fitness-related traits such as length-at-age can retain high levels of additive genetic variance even when total phenotypic variance is high.

Morphological differentiation and microhabitat segregation of two ecologically similar populations of pelagic planktivorous fishes, Coregonus albula and the smaller Coregonus fontanae, were studied in Lake Stechlin (northern Germany). Both populations performed diel vertical migrations, although C. fontanae was always situated in deeper pelagic water than C. albula both during day and night. Landmark-based geometric morphometrics revealed that sympatric C. albula and C. fontanae differ in external morphology, with main differences found in head length and eye position, as well as in length and width of the caudal peduncle. Moreover, while C. albula has a similar morphology over all sizes, the shape of C. fontanae changes with size. Accordingly, the morphology of the two is most different at smaller size. Although the morphological differences may reflect adaptations to the slightly differing microhabitats of the two populations, there is no conclusive evidence that this correspondence between ecology and morphology is the main mechanism behind the coexistence of the closely related coregonids in Lake Stechlin.

Sibling-size variation (SSV), estimated as the coefficient of variation of egg size, was investigated for 13 populations of brown trout Salmo trutta. SSV was negatively correlated with mean egg size both at the population and individual levels. After correction for the effect of mean egg size, SSV was also negatively correlated with stream size. These results provide new information about how salmonid SSV can vary at different ecological scales (individual, population and region). The results are discussed in light of competing theories for explaining SSV: (1) the passive effect hypothesis, stating that egg size variation follows passively from selection on egg size and (2) the bet-hedging hypothesis, stating that high SSV is adaptive in unpredictable environments.

Here we critically review the scale and extent of adaptive genetic variation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), an important model system in evolutionary and conservation biology that provides fundamental insights into population persistence, adaptive response and the effects of anthropogenic change. We consider the process of adaptation as the end product of natural selection, one that can best be viewed as the degree of matching between phenotype and environment. We recognise three potential sources of adaptive variation: heritable variation in phenotypic traits related to fitness, variation at the molecular level in genes influenced by selection, and variation in the way genes interact with the environment to produce phenotypes of varying plasticity. Of all phenotypic traits examined, variation in body size (or in correlated characters such as growth rates, age of seaward migration or age at sexual maturity) generally shows the highest heritability, as well as a strong effect on fitness. Thus, body size in Atlantic salmon tends to be positively correlated with freshwater and marine survival, as well as with fecundity, egg size, reproductive success, and offspring survival. By contrast, the fitness implications of variation in behavioural traits such as aggression, sheltering behaviour, or timing of migration are largely unknown. The adaptive significance of molecular variation in salmonids is also scant and largely circumstantial, despite extensive molecular screening on these species. Adaptive variation can result in local adaptations (LA) when, among other necessary conditions, populations live in patchy environments, exchange few or no migrants, and are subjected to differential selective pressures. Evidence for LA in Atlantic salmon is indirect and comes mostly from ecological correlates in fitness-related traits, the failure of many translocations, the poor performance of domesticated stocks, results of a few common-garden experiments (where different populations were raised in a common environment in an attempt to dissociate heritable from environmentally induced phenotypic variation), and the pattern of inherited resistance to some parasites and diseases. Genotype x environment interactions occurr for many fitness traits, suggesting that LA might be important. However, the scale and extent of adaptive variation remains poorly understood and probably varies, depending on habitat heterogeneity, environmental stability and the relative roles of selection and drift. As maladaptation often results from phenotype-environment mismatch, we argue that acting as if populations are not locally adapted carries a much greater risk of mismanagement than acting under the assumption for local adaptations when there are none. As such, an evolutionary approach to salmon conservation is required, aimed at maintaining the conditions necessary for natural selection to operate most efficiently and unhindered. This may require minimising alterations to native genotypes and habitats to which populations have likely become adapted, but also allowing for population size to reach or extend beyond carrying capacity to encourage competition and other sources of natural mortality.

A central assumption of life history theory is that the evolution of the component traits is determined in part by trade-offs between these traits. Whereas the existence of such trade-offs has been well demonstrated, the relative importance of these remains unclear. In this paper we use optimality theory to test the hypothesis that the trade-off between present and future fecundity induced by the costs of continued growth is a sufficient explanation for the optimal age at first reproduction, alpha, and the optimal allocation to reproduction, G, in 38 populations of perch and Arctic char. This hypothesis is rejected for both traits and we conclude that this trade-off, by itself, is an insufficient explanation for the observed values of alpha and G. Similarly, a fitness function that assumes a mortality cost to reproduction but no growth cost cannot account for the observed values of alpha. In contrast, under the assumption that fitness is maximized, the observed life histories can be accounted for by the joint action of trade-offs between growth and reproductive allocation and between mortality and reproductive allocation (Individual Juvenile Mortality model). Although the ability of the growth/mortality model to fit the data does not prove that this is the mechanism driving the evolution of the optimal age at first reproduction and allocation to reproduction, the fit does demonstrate that the hypothesis is consistent with the data and hence cannot at this time be rejected. We also examine two simpler versions of this model, one in which adult mortality is a constant proportion of juvenile mortality [Proportional Juvenile Mortality (PJM) model] and one in which the proportionality is constant within but not necessarily between species [Specific Juvenile Mortality (SSJM) model]. We find that the PJM model is unacceptable but that the SSJM model produces fits suggesting that, within the two species studied, juvenile mortality is proportional to adult mortality but the value differs between the two species.

Synchronic and allochronic data sets consisting of phenotypic values of various life-history traits from five grayling Thymallus thymallus populations with common ancestors were analysed for the purpose of estimating evolution and divergence rates. The synchronic data contained both juvenile and adult traits from populations that have been segregated for 44-88 years (9-22 generations). The allochronic time series contained growth- and maturation data spanning 95 years (16 generations). Estimated evolution and divergence rates were high compared with other life-history studies on the same temporal scale (0.002-1.008 haldanes, 10-30, 500 darwins). The divergence of adult traits were most probably caused by differential mortalities induced by variation in fishing intensity. For the population with allochronic data, 48 years (eight generations) of intense and consistent size-selective gill-net fishing resulted in a constant reduction in age (-0.33 years pr 10 year) and length (-18mm pr 10 year) at maturity. Length-at-age for ages one to five also decreased during the same period. When gill-net fishing was relaxed, age and length at maturity and length-at-age increased. Divergence rates for juvenile traits derived from a common-garden experiment were high, and standardized selection differentials (s') were high, especially for yolk-sac volume (s' = 2.6). We also document that low divergence rates for juvenile traits were lower between populations having similar spawning/nursery habitats (running water) than populations having relatively different habitats (running water v.s. still water). We suggest that the major part of the observed phenotypic divergence is mostly due to adaptive evolution, although microsatellite data indicate that genetic drift also has occurred.

Fluctuating asymmetry, the random departure from perfect bilateral symmetry, is a common measure of developmental instability that has been hypothesized to be inversely correlated with heterozygosity. Although this claim has been widely repeated, several studies have reported no such association. Therefore, we test the generality of this association, using meta-analysis, by converting test statistics for the relationship between heterozygosity (H) and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) into a common effect size, the Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient. We have analysed a database containing 41 studies with a total of 118 individual samples. Overall we found an unweighted mean negative effect size; r=-0.09 (i. e. a negative correlation between H and FA). Significant heterogeneity in effect size was mainly caused by a difference between ectothermic and endothermic animals, and to a lesser extent by the use of different study designs (i.e. within-population vs. among-populations). Mean effect size for endothermic animals was positive and significantly different from the mean effect size for ectothermic animals. Only for within-population studies of ectothermic animals did we find a significantly negative effect size (r=-0.23 +/- 0.09). The distribution of effect sizes in relation to sample size provided little evidence for patterns typical of those produced by publication bias. Our analysis suggests, at best, only a weak association between H and FA, and heterozygosity seems to explain only a very small amount of the variation in developmental instability among individuals and populations (r2=0.01 for the total material).

To elucidate the colonization of freshwater fish into Norway following the last deglaciation of Europe 10,000 years ago, we have performed a survey using mitochondrial DNA variation (20 populations) and multilocus DNA fingerprinting (14 populations) of the widely distributed perch (Perca fluviatilis) from the Scandinavian peninsula and the Baltic Sea. Sequence analysis of a 378 bp segment of the perch mitochondrial control region (D-loop) revealed 12 different haplotypes. A nested clade analysis was performed with the aim of separating population structure and population history. This analysis revealed strong geographical structuring of the Scandinavian perch populations. In addition, the level of genetic diversity was shown to differ considerably among the various populations as measured by the bandsharing values (S-values) obtained from multilocus DNA fingerprinting, with intrapopulation S-values ranging from 0.19 in Sweden to 0.84 in the central part of Norway. Analysis of the intrapopulation S-values, with S-value as a function of lake surface area and region, showed that these differences were significant. The mitochondrial and DNA fingerprinting data both suggest that the perch colonized Norway via two routes: one from the south following the retreating glacier, and the other through Swedish river systems from the Baltic Sea area. Perch utilizing the southern route colonized the area surrounding Oslofjord and the lakes which shortly after deglaciation were close to the sea. Fish migrating from the Baltic Sea seem to have reached no further than the east side of Oslofjord, where they presumably mixed with perch which had entered via the southern route. It seems likely that the migration events leading to the current distribution of perch also apply to other species of freshwater fish showing a similar distribution pattern.

Embryos of grayling (Thymallus thymallus) were exposed to different concentrations of methylmercury (0.16, 0.8, 4.0 and 20 micrograms Hg l-1) during the first 10 days of development. The exposure resulted in body concentrations in the newly hatched fry of 0.09, 0.27, 0.63 and 3.80 micrograms Hg g-1 wet wt., respectively. A control group had a body concentration of 0.01 microgram Hg g-1. Morphological disturbances were only found in the highest exposure group. Three years later, at a size of 13.8 +/- 0.8 cm, the different groups were tested for sublethal toxicant effects on foraging behavior. In the first series of experiments we tested the foraging efficiency of the fish when kept alone for 5 min in small flow-through aquariums. In the second series of experiments we tested the competitive ability of eight individuals from an exposed group vs. eight individuals from a control group when kept together for 30 min in a 300-1 aquarium. In both experiments live Dapnia magna were used as prey. We found impaired feeding efficiencies and reduced competitive abilities in grayling from the exposed groups which as yolk-fry had Hg concentrations of 0.27 microgram g-1 or more. In the foraging efficiency experiments these groups were 15-24% less efficient as compared to the control group. In the competitive ability experiments the control group caught two to six times as many preys as these exposed groups. Such harmful body concentrations of Hg (> 0.27 microgram g-1) may be found in eggs from piscivorous fishes in lakes receiving diffuse atmospheric depositions of mercury. We suggest such concentrations may have ecological consequences by reducing the fitness of the affected populations.

We have studied the developmental stability (measured as fluctuating asymmetry of five meristic characters) of three populations of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar (rivers Imsa, Lone and Ogna, western Norway). All three populations were both sampled in the wild, and hatched and reared in a common environment in a hatchery (with water from the river Imsa) from fertilization until smoltification. Both the Imsa and Lone hatchery populations have been sea-ranched in the Imsa for 10 years, whereas the Ogna populations is novel to the hatchery environment. Individual biochemical heterozygosity was scored at 50 loci, of which 11 were polymorphic. There was no correlation between biochemical heterozygosity and fluctuating asymmetry at the individual level, neither when tested within groups nor when tested between groups. There were no differences in fluctuating asymmetry between wild and hatchery Imsa and Lone fish, indicating that the hatchery environment did not disrupt early developmental homeostatic processes. However, the Ogna hatchery fish had significantly elevated levels of fluctuating asymmetry compared to the wild Ogna fish, indicating that the hatchery environment was hostile. The Ogna hatchery fish also had significantly higher fluctuating asymmetry than the Imsa hatchery and the Lone hatchery fish. Maladaptation to the hatchery environment is the most likely explanation for the increased asymmetry in river Ogna fish.

The present study focuses on the relative sensitivity among freshwater fish species to aqueous aluminium. Seven common Scandinavian fish species were exposed to acidic Al-rich water, acidic Al-poor water, and approximately neutral water as a control. The relative sensitivity among the species to an acute aluminium challenge was documented, and was in the following order: Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, as the most sensitive; then roach, Rutilus rutilus; minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus; perch, Perca fluviatilis; grayling, Thymallus thymallus; brown trout, Salmo trutta; and Arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus. Substantial mortality was observed in all species when exposed to the Al-rich medium. Some mortality was also observed in minnow, roach, and brown trout exposed to the acidic Al-poor medium and the control medium. A high resistance to aluminium was observed in Arctic char, while perch was found to be more sensitive to aluminium than expected and, for the first time, a toxic response to aqueous aluminium in grayling was documented. Through controlled experimental studies, the results confirm that aluminium is an important factor in the toxicity of acidified waters to freshwater fish species.