Credit: Simon Sommerfeld, Phoxinus phoxinus, Sülz

Hybrid swarm evolution in minnows

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Quick facts

Project title:

Hybrid swarm evolution of native and invasive Phoxinus spp. to the river Sieg, Germany

ZFMK Project lead:

Dr. Madlen Stange

Unit:

Junior Research Group (Minnow), Centre for Taxonomy and Morphology (ztm), Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb), Metabarcoding, Ichthyology, Directorate, Chair Systematic Zoology, Comparative Vertebrate Genomics

Object of research:

Fishes, Minnows, Ecology, Morphology, Genome Evolution

Description

In biodiversity research, little is known so far about how hybridizations of a native and a non-native species can lead to the evolution of an invasive hybrid. A group of researchers led by Dr Madlen Stange is now studying this aspect in a project at the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig – Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity (ZFMK). The group is investigating the spread of Phoxinus, an ecologically important schooling fish, in the River Sieg, a 155 km tributary of the River Rhine. The researchers are investigating the native and hybridized invasive populations on ecological, morphological, and genetic level to understand mechanisms and impact of hybridisation-invasions.