Notes: Mitochondrial DNA Analysis Confirms the Existence of a Genetically Divergent Walleye Population in Northeastern Mississippi

Abstract

Abstract Mitochondrial DNA analysis of 16 walleyes Stizostedion vitreum originating from Luxapalila Creek in northeastern Mississippi showed that they were genetically distinct (2.34% sequence variation) from walleyes collected from the Mississippi River basin and other northern drainages. There was no genetic variation among the 16 fish analyzed. This work confirms the existence of a unique genetic form of walleye in the Tombigbee River drainage, but further research is required to determine whether this distinct form occurs throughout the Gulf Coast drainages of Mississippi and Alabama. Because the genetic integrity of this southern walleye strain is threatened by stocking of northern walleye strains and by invasion of northern strains via the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway, a careful monitoring program with genetic markers should be implemented.