Abstract
Prochilodus magdalenae is an endemic freshwater fish that occurs in the Magdalena, Sinú and Atrato hydrographic basins. It has an important economic role and is a food resource for the artisanal fishing communities. Its socioeconomic importance contrasts with the current status of its fisheries, where stocks are being depleted. Considering its importance and lack of information on its genetic structure, we used seven microsatellite markers to assess the genetic structure of wild populations of P. magdalenae. The genetic diversity was assessed and the population genetic structure was estimated through Fst, analysis of molecular variance and Bayesian analysis. A total of 290 alleles were found in all loci throughout all population. The high polymorphism contrasts with the levels of observed heterozygosity (Ho = 0.276), which are the lowest values recorded for the family. We found three populations of bocachico coexisting throughout the studied system, contradicting the hypothesis that freshwater migratory fish form panmictic populations. These results on the genetic structure of P. magdalenae constitute tools for a better understanding of the behavior and biology of this species, contributing to fish management and conservation programs.
Highlights
The Magdalena River is the principal hydrographic system in Colombia and the major axis of economical development in the country (Jimenez-Segura et al, 2010)
Genetic diversity was analyzed using seven microsatellite loci described for Prochilodus lineatus (PL3, PL14, PL23, PL28, PL34, PL64 and PL119) that cross-amplify in P. magdalenae (Rueda et al, 2011)
Despite the large biodiversity of freshwater fishes in South America, there are few studies using microsatellite markers to assess the genetic characteristics of migratory fish populations (Oliveira et al, 2009)
Summary
The Magdalena River is the principal hydrographic system in Colombia and the major axis of economical development in the country (Jimenez-Segura et al, 2010). The basin has an area of 257,438 km, occupying approximately 24% of the Colombian territory (Galvis and Mojica, 2007) and has a large biomass and diversity of freshwater fish, harboring 167 species (Galvis and Mojica, 2007), some of which, like bocachico (Prochilodus magdalenae), migrate in the reproductive season. The “bocachico” is an endemic species occurring in the Magdalena, Sinú and Atrato hydrographic basins (Mojica et al, 2002; Maldonado-Ocampo et al, 2005). This is an important fish resource for the artisanal fishing communities, representing one of the commonly captured species. Is considered a key element in the ecosystem and may play an eco-
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