Subterranean Fishes of the World

4738

2010

Moskric, A. and Trontelj, P.

Several springs and accompanying subterranean waters of Dinaric karst are populated by endemic small-sized leuciscinae fishes vernacularly called "gaovice". On the basis of morphological and ecological characters, they used to be classified into a single genus Phoxinellus Heckel (1843); however, according to recent molecular investigations four of them have been reclassified into a new genus Delminichthys: D. adspersus, D. ghetaldii, D. jadovensis and D. krbavensis. D. adspersus, inhabiting Imotsko polje, occupies the most fragmented habitat and forms several apparently separated populations without obvious surface connections. As "gaovice" sustain long-term subterranean life, a question emerges whether they could maintain species gene flow via subterranean migrations. To answer this question, genetic structure of several geographically separated populations of D. adspersus have been studied using mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA analysis. By applying several population genetic programs, we determined at least three main groups of D. adspersus, which turned out as genetically unified with only slight gene flow between the western and southeastern group, while the third group appeared as completely isolated population. On the other hand, gene flow was detected among several subpopulations within each group, e. g. Red Lake population and other nearby subpopulations in the western group. Taking into account spatial distribution of D. adspersus and known facts about hydrological network of Imotsko polje, the observed genetic outcome can only be explained by subterranean communication between geographically separated populations of D. adspersus. According to our knowledge, this is the first proven evidence of subterranean migration of surface fishes

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20th International Conference on Subterranean Biology

2010

2010

2010