On the origin of vendace on the Solovetsky Islands:the use of archival documents in the microevolution study
Solovetsky Archipelago is known worldwide for its Solovetsky monastery. However the islands are also very important as a model area for studying flora and fauna formation following glacier withdrawal. Moreover, through the years Solovetsky monastery introduced various animals to the islands and, thus, studying the island fauna helps to unravel the long-term effects of alien species influence on the ecosystems. Researchers cannot always easily determine whether they are dealing with native or alien species. The question of the origin of vendace in the lakes of Bolshoy Solovetsky Island has been discussed in scientific literature since the beginning of the last century. It is still unclear whether this fish has naturally colonised the lakes or was introduced by humans. Even molecular genetic studies did not give a clear answer, so we used historic literature and archival materials to address this question. As a result, we found documents which, as we believe, demonstrate that in 1882 the monastery introduced vendace (Coregonus albula) from Nikolsky fish hatchery (located in Novgorod Region) into the lakes of Solovetsky Islands. The morphology of the vendace on the Solovetsky Islands is partly similar to the morphology of least cisco (C.sardinella). Morphological plasticity and the lack of pronounced genetic differences between vendace and least cisco suggest that they are not different species, but only subspecies of one polymorphic species.