Mitochondrial and Nuclear Gene Dynamics of Introduced Populations of Lepomis Macrochirus

A population of bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, was introduced into three man-made ponds in 1966. Analyses of these ponds in 1984 and 1985 found significant mtDNA divergence without nuclear gene differentiation. The difference between nuclear gene and mtDNA measures of interpopulational divergence was very large and suggests that sexual asymmetries in life histories may be important considerations in mtDNA and nuclear gene rates of divergence. The rapid divergence of mtDNA haplotype frequencies suggests that sorting of previously existing variation may accelerate mtDNA divergence among recently isolated populations.