Population genetic structure of Mahi Sefid (Rutilus frisii kutum) in the of South Caspian Sea: Implications for fishery management

Mahi sefid (Cyprinidae) is an economically important fish in the south Caspian Sea. Specimens was collected from the Lamir River, Sefid Rud, Shir Rud and Tajan Rivers and analyzed at 38 microsatellite DNA loci. Eight primers out of the thirty analyzed loci were polymorphic in all sampling regions. The highest observed heterozygosity (1) was in locus Ca1 in Sefid Rud and lowest was 0.07 in locus SYP5 in Lamir River. The highest expected heterozygosity was 0.92 in locus SYP4 in Shir Rud and lowest was 0.24 in locus SYP6 in Tajan River. The average allele per locus was 7.22, maximum allele per locus was 15 and minimum allele per locus was two. The highest genetic distance was between Shir Rud and Tajan River (0.07) and lowest genetic distance was between Sefid Rud and Tajan River (0.05). All loci and all rivers deviated from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium expectations (P<0.01) except at the SPY6 locus. Populations clustered in three groups corresponding to Shir Rud, Lamir Rivers and Tajan-Sefid Rud.