Morphological and genetic differences among recently founded poulations of noble crayfish (Astacus astacus)

Abstract

A growing interest in noble crayfish, Astacus astacus, both for aquaculture and for stocking new ponds, has encouraged studies in morphometric and genetic variation among recently founded (last century) populations. Specimens from one lake in western Norway and three lakes in south‐eastern Norway, all assumed to originate from the same ancestral population, were compared. There were significant differences between the one western and the three eastern populations in two morphometric characters: the ratios total length/ carapax width and total length/length of right chela. Activity in two specific esterase zones and one specific Lap locus was pronounced in the western population while rare and weak in the eastern populations. Inter‐sample heterogeneity in allele frequencies at the polymorphic loci Lap‐1 and Xdh may be explained by random genetic drift, with some possible effect of natural selection. Copyright © 1989, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved