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 Sacramento splittail population genetics

Text Box: .t files for Rachel Member of the Cyprinidae family Only extant member of its genus in the world. Endemic to the California Central Valley. Adults migrate from the San Francisco estuary and Delta regions into river tributaries and floodplains to spawn. Conservation Concern for Splittail Decline in population size due to damming, water diversions, contaminants. Listed as threatened by US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 1999. Removed from ESA list in 2003. Species of Special Concern (USFWS, CA Dept. of Fish and Game). Project Goals 1. Develop a suite of microsatellite markers for population genetic studies of several native California cyprinids.     Status:      Microsatellite markers were developed for five cyprinids: hitch, Sacramento pikeminnow, Sacramento                     blackfish, Sacramento splittail, tui chub.                                             Results published in Molecular Ecology Notes    pdf 2. Examine population structure of Sacramento splittail using microsatellites.     Status:     Two genetically distinct populations were found to exist within our study region; one largely comprised of splittail                     collected from the Petaluma and Napa rivers and the second comprised of splittail collected from tributaries in                    California’s Central Valley. These results were replicated in two consecutive years with both distance and model-                    based algorithms.                                                                Results published in Conservation Genetics   pdf   3. Complimentary use of otolith microchemistry and genetic data analysis (in collaboration with Fred Feyrer of CA Dept. of     Water Resources).       Status:     Otolith microchemistry was used to identify the natal tributaries of splittail and can, in the future, be combined                    with genetic analysis to better understand both the life and evolutionary histories of migratory fish species.                       Results currently in review by Transactions of the American Fisheries Society   4. Determine if two distinct splittail populations exhibit overlapping or segregated distribution patterns during non-spawning     seasons when they have migrated to foraging and rearing habitat.       Status:     Adult splittail samples from many foraging habitats has been collected, the DNA has been extracted, and                    microsatellite genotyping is nearing completion. We are currently trying to obtain splittail samples from the Napa                    and Petaluma marshes. Once all samples are obtained and genotyped, assignment testing will be performed to                    evaluate the distributions of individuals from each population.   5. Estimate effective population sizes for each population using temporal samples.   6. Evaluate demographic fluctuations over time using mtDNA analysis of recently collected and museum archived samples. I'm     interested in incorporating coalescent approaches if feasible.       Status: SequenTced the ND1 gene for many recently collected splittail samples, the Lahontan redside (as an outgroup), and a     few museum archived specimens. Currently conducting phylogenetic analysis. Text Box: Splittail Facts History