Introgressive hybridization off chars of the genus Salvelinus as inferred from mitocchondrial DNA variation

Nucleotide sequence analysis of the mitochondrial cyttochrome b gene in the genus Salvelinus revealed hybrids with S. leucomaenis in S. malma malma populations ofthe Northern Okhotsk Sea basin. Hybrids of S. m. malma and S. m. krascheninnikovi were found in S. m. malma populations from the Northern Okhotsk Sea basin and Kamchatka. The findings testify to a secondary contact and mtDNA transfer between these species and forms. It was assumed that introgressive hybridization took place both long ago and relatively recently and occurred in one direction: from S. leucomaenis or S. m. krascheninnikovi to S. m. malma.