Patterns of genetic structure of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) in Lake Geneva at the end of the spawning season

The study provides the first analysis of the genetic structure of an economically and ecologically important fish species, Eurasian perch, in Lake Geneva. Twelve microsatellite markers were analyzed for 394 fish sampled at the end of the spawning season from seven sites located all around the lake (between 42 and 61 fish per site). The measure of genetic differentiation, FST, was low overall (0.0035), but significant for twelve pairwise site comparisons. In contrast, Bayesian cluster analyses indicated no support for the presence of more than one distinct genetic cluster. We conclude that there is only one population in the lake. Therefore, the Eurasian perch should be managed as a single stock.