Genetic Variation in White Bass

Abstract

A protein electrophoretic survey of white bass Morone chrysops was conducted to evaluate the extent and pattern of extant genetic variation and population structuring. Forty-four presumptive structural loci were surveyed from eye, liver, and skeletal muscle tissue from 456 white bass in 19 samples. The level of allelic variation observed within white bass populations was low relative to many other species of fish, but it was consistent with levels of variation observed in the congeneric striped bass M. saxatilis and may represent a feature common to all species in the genus. Significant interpopulation genetic heterogeneity was observed; however, the overall level of differentiation among populations was quite low. Widespread stocking of white bass since 1900 and rapid range expansion could, in part, explain the absence of population structuring that is consistent with geographic proximity or drainage. The high frequencies of an mIDHP* allele in Lake Erie collections that was absent in those from Mississippi drainages is consistent with distinct postglacial origins of these two groups.