Genetic Variation and Fitness: A Test in a Naturalized Population of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)

Abstract

The relationship between enzyme heterozygosity and several components of fitness (size and survival) was examined in a naturalized population of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) from Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. Significant differences in allele frequency and the number of heterozygous loci per individual were found among five age classes spanning most of the life history stages of brook trout in this population. A young of the year (YOY) cohort sampled after a period of high natural mortality had significantly greater numbers of heterozygous loci per individual than YOY sampled shortly after emergence from redd sites. A positive association between heterozygosity and size was only found in YOY sampled in June and not in the other age classes in which sexual maturity was not a complicating factor. The association between heterozygosity and size was affected by the onset of sexual maturity. Significant negative regressions between multilocus or single locus heterozygosity and size were found in mature males whereas heterozygosity was positively associated with size in females. These dissimilarities may be the result of differences in growth rates prior to sexual maturation and differential allocation of energy towards gametic and somatic tissue.