Assortativ parning hos sik (Coregonus lavaretus)

European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) forms reproductively isolated sub-populations with different body sizes in the lakes where northern pike (Esox lucius) exists. It has been hypothesized that the initial reproductive isolation between ecotypes arises through size-assortative mate choice or because small and large individuals arrive to the spawning grounds at different times. To test these hypotheses, I caught and measured both breeding whitefish pairs and singular whitefish on the spawning grounds over the spawning season. There was no correlation between the lengths of males and females in breeding pairs, indicating that mate selection was random with respect to body size. There were no significant differences in body length between sampling dates during the field period in November 2021, suggesting that there is no divergence in spawning time between large and small individuals. Thus, neither of the two hypotheses were supported. Interestingly, males have significantly higher amount of breeding tubercles than females according to my results, which could be a selective factor in mate selection. However, the function of the tubercles is yet poorly understood.