Comparison of genetic and visual identification of cisco and lake whitefish larvae from Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario

• Published in: Canadian journal of fisheries and aquatic sciences Vol. 75; no. 8; pp. 1329 - 1336
• Main Authors: George, Ellen M, Hare, Matthew P, Crabtree, Darran L, Lantry, Brian F, Rudstam, Lars G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ottawa NRC Research Press 01.08.2018; Canadian Science Publishing NRC Research Press
• Subjects: Coregonus artedi; Coregonus clupeaformis; Cytochrome; Cytochrome-c oxidase; Cytochromes; DNA barcoding; Expressed sequence tags; Fish; Fish larvae; Food chains; Food webs; Forage fishes; Freshwater; Identification; Identification and classification; Identification keys; Identification methods; Lake whitefish; Lakes; Larvae; Larval stage; Life history; Living resources; Mitochondria; Natural history; Nature conservation; Predation; Predators; Resource management; Restoration; Salmo salar; Salmon; Salvelinus; Salvelinus namaycush; Species identification; Trout; Vulnerable species; Ontario; Lake Ontario; USA, Lake Ontario
• ISSN: 0706-652X; 1205-7533
• DOI: 10.1139/cjfas-2017-0186

Cisco (Coregonus artedi) are an important component of native food webs in the Great Lakes, and their restoration is instrumental to the recovery of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Difficulties with visual identification of larvae can confound early life history surveys, as cisco are often difficult to distinguish from lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis). We compared traditional visual species identification methods with genetic identifications based on barcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene for 726 coregonine larvae caught in Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario. We found little agreement between the visual characteristics of cisco identified by genetic barcoding and the most widely used dichotomous key, and the considerable overlap in ranges of traditionally utilized metrics suggests that visual identification of coregonine larvae from Chaumont Bay is impractical. Coregonines are highly variable and plastic species and often display wide variations in morphometric characteristics across their broad range. This study highlights the importance of developing accurate, geographically appropriate larval identification methods to best inform cisco restoration and management efforts.