Origin and dispersal of the chars of genus Salvelinus (Salmonidae, Salmoniformes)
https://doi.org/10.26428/1606-9919-2025-205-407-422.
Abstract
A new approach to the problem of origin and dispersal of genus Salvelinus is proposed, based on analysis of their ecology and reproductive biology forming in the process of climatic and geological evolution of the Earth. There was concluded that the ancestor of the char species formed from one of the coldest populations of phyletic line Parasalmo clarki — Salmo trutta that occurred in an isolated region of the East Arctic at the beginning of the Pliocene. With further cooling of climate in the East Arctic, the chars adopted consistently to colder living conditions, and the stages of these adaptations were fixed during isolation of the ancestral forms outside the region. The most ancient char species is Salvelinus leucomаenis evolved about 4 million years ago. Most other species of this genus were formed at the end of the Pliocene during the first glaciation of the Northern Hemisphere. Cristivomer namaycush is considered as the species belonged to subfamily Huchoninae, and the phylogenetic branch of Salvethymus svetovidovi as that formed independently from the chars in the Pacific Ocean. Evolution of salmon fishes developed since the late Miocene toward adaptation to progressive cooling of climate, so the chars of genus Salvelinus and Cristivomer namaycush acquired convergent similarity as the most cold-water representatives of the phyletic lines Salmoninae and Huchoninae.
Keywords
char,
genus Salvelinus,
origin of species,
dispersal of species,
habitat formation,
taxonomic volume
Supporting agencies: The author is grateful to the reviewers for their interest to the study.
About the Author
V. N. Dolganov
Institute of Marine Biology, National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Ac. Sci.
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Vladimir N. DolganovI, D.Biol., leading researcher
17, Palchevsky Str., Vladivostok, 690041
References
1. Alekseev, S.S., Distribution, diversity and diversification of arctic char Salvelinus alpinus (L.) complex (Salmoniformes, Salmonidae) of Siberia, Extended Abstract of Doctoral (Biol.) Dissertation, Moscow: MGU, 2016.
2. Atlas presnovodnykh ryb Rossii (Atlas of Freshwater Fishes in Russia), Reshetnikov, Yu.S., ed., Moscow: Nauka, 2002, vol. 1.
3. Berg, L.S., On the origin of trout and other freshwater salmonids, Pamyati akademika S.A. Zernova (In memory of Academician S.A. Zernov), Moscow: Аkad. Nauk SSSR, 1948, pp. 159–172.
4. Biske, S.F. and Baranova, Yu.P., Main features of the paleogeography of Beringia in the pre-Quaternary Cenozoic, in Beringia in Cenozoic, Vladivostok: Dal’nevost. Nauchn. Tsentr, Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1976, pp. 121–128.
5. Brykov, V.A., Oleinik, A.G., Polyakova, N.E., Skurikhina, L.A., Semina, A.V., Podlesnykh, A.V., and Kukhlevsky, A.D., Punctuate divergent evolution in fish from the Northern Pacific, Russ. J. Genet., 2010, vol. 46, no. 7, pp. 861–866. doi 10.1134/S1022795410070112
6. Vladimirov, V.I., Trout from diatom deposits of the Pliocene of Armenia, Dokl. Armyanskoy Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1946, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 123–128.
7. Gladenkov, A.Yu. and Gladenkov, Yu.B., Onset of connections between the Pacific and Arctic Oceans through the Bering Strait in the Neogene, Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation, 2004, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 175–187.
8. Glubokovsky, M.K., Evolyutsionnaya biologiya lososevykh ryb (Evolutionaiy Biology of Salmonid Fishes), Moskow: Nauka, 1995.
9. Glubokovskij, M.K. and Chereshnev, I.A., Debatable questions of the phylogeny of the Holarctic chars of the genus Salvelinus. 1. A study of anadromous chars from the basin of the East Siberian Sea, Vopr. Ikhtiol., 1981, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 771–786.
10. Dolganov, V.N., The genesis of fishes from the order Salmoniformes, Russ. J. Mar. Biol., 2022, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 303–308. doi 10.1134/s1063074022050157
11. Dolganov, V.N., The formation of biological diversity of far eastern redfins of the genus Tribolodon (Cyprinidae), Russ. J. Mar. Biol., 2021, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 413–424. doi 10.1134/S1063074021060055
12. Dolganov, V.N., The ecological evolution of Salmoniformes, Russ. J. Mar. Biol., 2024, vol. 50, no. 7, pp. 357–368. doi 10.1134/S1063074024700329
13. Dorofeyeva, E.A., The basic principles of classification and phylogeny of the salmonid fishes (Salmoniformes, Salmonoidei, Salmonidae), in Biology and phylogeny of fishes, Leningrad: Zool. Inst., Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1989, pp. 5–15.
14. Esin, E.V. and Markevich,G.N.,evolution of the charrs, genus Salvelinus(Salmonidae). 1. Origins and expansion of the species, Vopr. Ikhtiol., 2018, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 187–203. doi 10.1134/S0032945218020054
15. Zhivotovsky, L.A., Genetic history of Salmonid fishes of the genus Oncorhynchus, Russ. J. Genet., 2015, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 491–505. doi 10.1134/S1022795415050105
16. Kafanov, A.I., Cenozoic history of the malacofaunas of the northern Pacific shelf, in Morskaya biogeografiya (predmet, metody, printsipy rayonirovaniya) (Marine biogeography (subject, methods, principles of regionalization)), Moscow: Nauka, 1982, pp. 134–176.
17. Kafanov, A.I. and Kudryashov, V.A., Morskaya biogeografiya (Marine biogeography), Moscow: Nauka, 2000.
18. Miller, R.R., Quaternary freshwater fishes of North America, The Quaternary of the United States, A review volume for the VII Congress of the International Association for Quaternary Research, Wright Jr., H.E. and Frey, D.G., editors, Princeton: New Jersey Princeton University Press, 1965, pp. 569–582.
19. Oleynik, A.G., Molecular evolution of chars of the genus Salvelinus: phylogenetic and phylogeographic aspects, Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. (Biol.) Dissertation, Vladivostok: Inst. Biol. Morya, Dal’nevost. Otd. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2013.
20. Oleinik, A.G. and Skurichina, L.A., Genetic divergence of sympatric charrs of the genus Salvelinus from Nachikinskoe Lake (Kamchatka), Russ. J. Genet., 2007, vol. 43, no. 8, pp. 910–917. doi 10.1134/S1022795407080133
21. Omelchenko, V.T., Charrs of genus Salvelinus Richardson (Salmoniformes, Salmonidae): genetic divergence of populations of Russian North East and Far East, in Vladimir Ya. Levanidov’s Biennial Memorial Meetings, Vladivostok: Dal’nauka, 2005, vol. 3, pp. 492–509.
22. Osinov, A.G. and Lebedev, V.S., Salmonid fish (Salmonidae, Salmoniformes): position in the suborder Protacanthopterygii, basic evolutionary history, molecular dating, Vopr. Ikhtiol., 2004, vol. 44, no. 6, pp. 738–765.
23. Petrov, O.M., Geological history of the Bering Strait in the late Cenozoic, in Beringia in Cenozoic, Vladivostok: Dal’nevost. Nauchn. Tsentr, Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1976, pp. 28–32.
24. Radchenko, O.A., Izmenchivost’ mitokhondrial’noy DNK gol’tsov roda Salvelinus (Variability of mitochondrial DNA of chars of the genus Salvelinus) , Magadan: Sev.-Vost. Nauch. Tsentr, Dal’nevost. Otd. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2005.
25. Savaitova, К.А., Arkticheskiye gol’tsy (struktura populyatsionnykh sistem, perspektivy khozyaystvennogo ispol’zovaniya) (Arctic char (structure of population systems, prospects for economic use)), Мoscow: Аgropromizdat, 1989.
26. Svitoch, A.A. and Taldenkova, E.E., Recent Bering Strait History, Oceanology, 1994, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 439–443.
27. Chereshnev, I.A., Volobuev, V.V., Shestakov, A.V., and Frolov, S.V., Lososevidnye ryby Severo-Vostoka Rossii (Salmonids in the North-East of Russia), Vladivostok: Dal’nauka, 2002.
28. Chereshnev, I.A. and Skopets, M.B., Salvethymus svetovidovi gen. et sp. n., a new endemic of the subfamily Salmoninae from Lake Elgygytgyn (central Chukotka), Vopr. Ikhtiol., 1990, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 201–213.
29. Shedko, S.V., Miroshnichenko, I.L., and Nemkova, G.A., Phylogeny of Salmonids (Salmoniformes, Salmonidae) and Its Molecular Dating: Analysis of Nuclear RAG1, Russ. J. Genet., 2012, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 575–579. doi 10.1134/S1022795412050201
30. Schmidt, P.Yu., Ryby Okhotskogo morya (Fishes of the Sea of Okhotsk), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1950.
31. Andrews, J., The Present Ice Age: Ctnozoic, in The Winters of the World: Earth under the Ice Ages, New York: John Wiley and Sons,1979, pp. 179–218.
32. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes, Lee D.S., Gilbert C.R., Hocutt C.H., Jenkins R.E., McAllister D.E., Stauffer, Jr. J.R., North Carolina Mus. Nat. Hist., 1980.
33. Behnke, R.J., A systematic review of the genus Salvelinus, Charrs: salmonid fishes of the genus Salvelinus, ed. Balon E.K., The Hague: Dr. W. Junk Publ., 1980, pp. 441–480.
34. Behnke, R.J., Interpreting the phylogeny of Salvelinus, Physiol. Ecol. Japan. Spec., 1989, vol. 1, pp. 35–48.
35. Behnke, R.J., Native trout of Western North America, Amer. Fish. Soc., 1992.
36. Brunner, P.C., Douglas, M.R., Osinov, A., Wilson, C.C., and Bernatchez, L., Holarctic phylogeography of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L.) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences, Evolution, 2001, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 573–586.
37. Cavender, T.M., Systematics of Salvelinus from the north Pacific basin, Charrs: salmonid fishes of the genus Salvelinus, ed. Balon E.K., The Hague: Dr. W. Junk Publ., 1980, pp. 295–322.
38. Crespi, B.J. and Fulton, M.J., Molecular systematics of Salmonidae: combined nuclear data yields a robust phylogeny, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2004, vol. 31, pp. 658–679.
39. Crete-Lafreniere, A., Weir, L.K., and Bernatchez, L., Framing the Salmonidae family phylogenetic portrait: a more comprehensive picture from increased taxon sampling, PLoS ONE, 2012, vol. 7, no. 10, e46662.
40. Grewe, P.M., Billington, N., and Hebert, P.N.D., Phylogenetic relationships among members of Salvelinus inferred from mitochondrial DNA divergence, Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 1990, vol. 47, no. 5, pp. 984–991.
41. Marincovich, L. and Gladenkov, A.Y., New evidence for the age of Bering Strait, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 2001, vol. 20, no. 1–3, pp. 329–335. doi 10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00113-X
42. Montgomery, D.R., Coevolution of the Pacific salmon and Pacific Rim topography, Geology, 2000, vol. 28, no. 12, pp. 1107–1110.
43. Muir, A.M., Hansen, M.J., Bronte, C.R., and Krueger, C.C., If Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus is ‘the most diverse vertebrate’, what is the lake charr Salvelinus namaycush?, Fish and Fisheries, 2015, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 1194–1207. doi 10.1111/faf.12114
44. Shed’ko, S.V., Ginatulina, L.K., Parpura, I.Z., and Ermolenko, A.V., Evolutionary and taxonomic relationships among Far-Eastern salmonid fishes inferred from mitochondrial DNA divergence, J. Fish. Biol., 1996, vol. 49, pp. 815–829.
45. Smith, G.R., Swirydchuk, K., Kimmel, P.G., and Wilkinson, B.H., Fish biostratigraphy of Late Miocene to Pleistocene sediments of the Western Snake river plain, Idaho, Cenozoic geology of Idaho: Idaho Bureau Mines Geol. Bull., 1982, no. 26, pp. 519–541.
46. Stearley, R.F. and Smith, G.R., Salmonid fishes from Mio-Pliocene lake sediments in the western Snake river plain and the Great basin: Fishes of the Mio-Pliocene western Snake river plain and vicinity: Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 2016, vol. 204, no. 1.
47. Ueno, T., Kimura, S., and Hasegawa, Y., Freshwater fishes from the Late Cenozoic deposits in Kusu Basin, Oita Prefecture, Japan, Mem. Nat. Sci. Mus., 1975, no. 8, pp. 57–70.
48. Wilson, M.V.H. and Williams, R.G., Salmoniform fishes: key fossils, supertree, and possible morphological synapomorphies, in Origin and Phylogenetic Interrelationships of Teleosts, eds Nelson, J.S., Schultze, H.-P., and Wilson, M.V.H., München, Germany: Friedrich Pfeil, 2010, pp. 379–409.
49. Zimmerman, M.S., Krueger, C.C., and Eshenroder, R.L., Phenotyping diversity of Lake Trout in Great Slave Lake: differences in morphology, buoyancy, and habitat depth, Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc., 2006, vol. 135, no. 4, pp. 1056–1067. doi 10.1577/T05-237.1
Review
For citations:
Dolganov V.N. Origin and dispersal of the chars of genus Salvelinus (Salmonidae, Salmoniformes). Izvestiya TINRO. 2025;205(3):407-422. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26428/1606-9919-2025-205-407-422.
Views:
15
Email this article 