GENETIC DIFFERENCES AMONG NOBLE CRAYFISH (ASTACUS ASTACUS) STOCKS IN FINLAND, SWEDEN AND ESTONIA BASED ON THE ITS1 REGION

Noble crayfish (Astacus astacus) is indigenous to Finland. The distribution of A. astacus has diminished dramatically during the past century, due to environmental changes, crayfish plague (Aphanomyces astaci) outbreaks and stocking of alien signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus). Due to an active reintroduction policy and partly due to illegal introductions, the origins of noble crayfish populations are somewhat unknown. For conservation purposes it is essential to know if the populations are autochthonous or if they are a mixture of several different populations. Genetic variation of seven Finnish noble crayfish populations was studied comparing the variation in a short tandem repeat in the rDNA internal transcribed spacer 1 region (ITS1 region). Five Swedish and five Estonian populations were used as reference populations. Based on the ITS1 fragment variation, some of the analysed Finnish noble crayfish populations were most likely original populations or originated from one source population. They differed from the other populations according to the Population Divergence Test. However, there were no differences between some of the Finnish populations and this may be a consequence of multiple stockings. Differences among noble crayfish populations from the three countries were also studied. Five of the Finnish populations differed from the Swedish and the Estonian populations. One population, Lake Saimaa, did not differ from one Estonian and two Swedish populations. Furthermore, a population from northern Finland was not different from a population in northern Sweden. The Estonian populations had a larger number of fragments present in their genotypes compared to the Finnish and the Swedish populations. Private fragments, which were typical to only one country, were found in two Finnish, in four Estonian and in three Swedish populations