Population structure of Rutilus frisii kutum in Iranian coastline of the Caspian Sea using microsatellite markers

Kutum is considered as one of the anadramous species of the Caspian Sea. Due to continuous population decline of the fish since 1975, Iranian fisheries organization started to restock this species. Nowadays, there is growing concern over the effects of restocking on natural populations. For this purpose, population structure and genetic variation of this species in the Iranian coastline of Caspian Sea were investigated by using microsatellite markers. The results showed that the average genetic variation of kutum in the southern coast of the Caspian Sea is lower than those reported for the most anadramous fish. After applying the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) test, all populations were found to be significantly deviated from HWE. IN spite of high number of migration between the Cheshmekileh and Gharasu populations, there is 3 different populations of Cheshmekileh, Gharasu, and Sefidrud in the Caspian Sea. The reported results could be of interest to management and restocking programs of this species in Caspian Sea.