First successful hybridization experiment between native European weatherfish (Misgurnus fossilis) and non-native Oriental weatherfish (M. anguillicaudatus) reveals no evidence for postzygotic barriers

By

Wanzenböck, Josef
Hopfinger, Mathias
Wanzenböck, Sylvia
Fuxjäger, Lukas
Rund, Hans
Lamatsch, Dunja K.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

NeoBiota : advancing research on alien species and biological invasions

Volume

69

Pages

29--50

Subjects

freshwater fish , genome size , pigment patterns , postzygotic barrier , standard metabolic rate

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sophia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.69.67708

 

Abstract

The European weatherfish Misgurnus fossilis (Linnaeus, 1758) is a threatened freshwater species in large parts of Europe and might come under pressure from currently establishing exotic weatherfish species. Additional threats might arise if those species hybridize which has been questioned in previous research. Regarding the hybridization of M. fossilis × M. anguillicaudatus (Cantor, 1842), we demonstrate that despite the considerable genetic distance between parental species, the estimated long divergence time and different ploidy levels do not represent a postzygotic barrier for hybridization of the European and Oriental weatherfish. The paternal species can be easily differentiated based on external pigment patterns with hybrids showing intermediate patterns. No difference in standard metabolic rate, indicating a lack of hybrid vigour, renders predictions of potential threats to the European weatherfish from hybridization with the Oriental weatherfish difficult. Therefore, the genetic and physiological basis of invasiveness via hybridization remains elusive in Misgurnus species and requires further research. The existence of prezygotic reproductive isolation mechanisms and the fertility of F1 hybrids remains to be tested to predict the potential threats of globally invasive Oriental weatherfish species.