MORPHOLOGICAL PECULIARITIES OF HYBRID POPULATIONS OF VENDACE IN THE RESERVOIRS OF WATERSHED WHITE, CASPIAN AND BALTIC SEAS
The results of the comparative analysis of morphological characteristics of vendace populations inhabiting lakes in the watershed of the White, Caspian and Baltic Seas are given. It is shown that these populations are similar with the hybrid forms of vendace in the Pechora basin onset of the morphometric features. The morphological characteristics of both vendace species Coregonus albula and C. sardinella are combined in the hybrid populations, at the same time they have specific features. Hybrid populations of vendace belong to the species C. albula due to the most significant morphological characteristics used for assessment of the taxonomic status of whitefish (number of vertebrae; distance from end of snout to the insertion of the dorsal fin; distance from the insertion of the ventral fin to the insertion of the anal fin).