For 31 plastic and 8 meristic features, morphological comparisons of Northern (Salvelinus malma) and Southern (Salvelinus curilus) Dolly Varden chars were made. There were significant changes in 24 plastic and 7 meristic indicators, with 29 of them being extremely significant (P > 0.999). In 11 cases, the changes are significant enough to be classified as subspecific – CD>1.28. There is a chiatus running the length of the upper jaw at the index’s limits of variation, and this is already at the species level. The number of vertebrae must be distinguished from the meristic traits; on this basis, the variations between these species are enormous: CD=2.33. All of this points to considerable variations between these samples and, once again, verifies the southern Dolly Varden’s species status as Salvelinus curilus.

Author (S) Details

N. S. Romanov
National Scientific Center of Marine Biology of Far-Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences. 690041. Vladivostok, Russia.

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