Regional complexes of Oncorhynchus nerka (Salmonidae) from the eastern coast of Kamchatka and Chukotka: delineation, genetic diversity, origin, adaptive and demographic processes

The meta-analysis was used to summarize the results of previously performed studies on variability of 45 single-nucleotide polymorphism loci and 13 microsatellite loci in Asian sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka populations from the eastern coast of Kamchatka and Chukotka. Allelic frequencies of both types of markers were analyzed using congruent statistical approaches in 53 sample sets from 13 sockeye salmon reproduction watersheds on the west coast of the Bering Sea and the western Pacific Ocean. The spatial structure of the species in considered part of its distribution range was assessed and four major regional population complexes were identified: the Koryak Plateau and Chukotka, the Karaginsky Gulf, the Kamchatka River Basin, and southeastern Kamchatka. The formation of the geographic structure of the sockeye salmon on the Asian Pacific coast is associated with the history of colonization of the region by the species and its adaptation to reproductive conditions in the river and lake-river systems of eastern Kamchatka and Chukotka.