Variability of Some Meristic Features and Polymorphism of the Mitochondrial DNA Fragment, Including the nd1 Gene, of Whitefishes of the Coregonus lavaretus sensu lato Group from Water Bodies of Northern Europe

Phylogeographic and morphological analyses of European whitefish Coregonus lavaretus from Europe and the level of polymorphism of the mtDNA nd1 gene indicate a relatively ancient origin of some populations inhabiting water bodies west of Jutland. It is suggested that these populations in Europe represent remnants of the primary wave of colonization of founders from Central Siberia (Lena River basin). In later waves of whitefish migrations from Siberia, synchronized in time with the events of recurrent Lower Quaternary glaciations, whitefish dispersed west of the Urals from the lower reaches of large watercourses of Western Siberia (Ob and Yenisei rivers), which evolved relatively independently of whitefishes from Central Siberia. As a result of repeated events of dispersal from disconnected periglacial refugia from the east and west, whitefish haplotypes became greatly mixed in the geographical space of Eastern Europe from the Baltic Sea to the Pechora River. In addition to natural-historical factors, the distribution of genetic variability in natural whitefish populations in Eastern Europe in recent decades has been influenced by fish hatchery activities for acclimatization and/or artificial maintenance of populations/species.