Morphological and Genetic Variability of Sympatric Whitefishes of the Coregonus lavaretus pidschian Complex from Lake Kutaramakan of the Khantaisk Drainage System (Taymyr Peninsula)

This work presents the results of morphological and genetic analyses of the sympatric forms/species of whitefishes of the Coregonus lavaretus pidschian (Coregonus pidschian) complex from Lake Kutaramakan of the Khantaisk drainage system (Taymyr Peninsula). It is found that the studied whitefish forms/species do not differ in the number of gill rakers on the first branchial arch, but are well distinguished by the number of perforated lateral line scales, most morphometric characters, and biological features. Analysis of variability of the mitochondrial ND1 gene shows that whitefishes from Lake Kutaramakan belong to two different phylogenetic lineages which were earlier found in water bodies of the Taymyr Peninsula, the Ob, Yenisei, and Anabar rivers. It is shown that some whitefish haplotypes belong to pidschian-like whitefish from the Ob River basin and other haplotypes belong to glacial-plain whitefish C. lavaretus pidschian natio glacialis (C. lavaretus pidschianglacialis). Unlike whitefishes from the Anabar River, where such forms are strongly differentiated, there is considerable hybridization between the forms in Lake Kutaramakan.