Allozyme variation in riverine and lacustrine populations of Macrobrachium nipponense (de Haan)

Abstract. Allozyme variation at 32 protein genetic loci was studied in four populations of Macrobrachium nipponense (de Haan) from two contrasting habitats, wholly freshwater lacustrine sites and brackish water riverine areas from different parts of Asia (Hong Kong, Canton, Wuhan, Japan). The average values of observed heterozygosity were 7·45% for lacustrine and 12·30% for riverine sites, the percentage of polymorphic loci (0·99) was 32·5%. The freshwater/lacustrine populations had lower estimates of genetic variability than the river/brackish water populations. The average genetic similarity and genetic distance (Nei's) were 0·92 and 0·084 respectively. The results were compared with those of the only other study on this species. The implications of these results for this species are discussed.