Genetic Structure of the Pacific Herring <i>Clupea pallasii </i>Valenciennes<i></i>1847, on a Macrogeographic Scale
Using ten microsatellite loci, the analysis of genetic variability and differentiation of the Pacific herring <i>Clupea pallasii</i> over a wide range in the Okhotsk, Bering, Chukchi, Kara, Barents and White seas was performed. A similar level of genetic variability of herring belonging to three geographical subspecies is shown. The genetic structure at the large scale is most pronounced between the three geographical subspecies of herring, with the different level of genetic differentiation within each of the subspecies. Herring of the Pacific range is differentiated only at the level of large basins-the Okhotsk and Bering seas, which indicates a significant level of gene exchange, as well as in the South-Eastern part of the Barents and Kara seas. At the same time, the gene flow in White Sea herring is restricted on a very small spatial scale.