Abstract

An allozyme survey was conducted in three naturalized populations of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), from rivers in two Andean lakes of southern Chile. The analysis was based on 32 presumed loci, 10 of which were variable, and revealed that the mean percentage of polymorphic loci (P = 21.8%: range = 15.6-28.1%), the mean number of alleles per locus (n = 1.26; range = 1.2-1.3) and the mean observed heterozygosity (H-O = 7.0%; range = 6.0-8.2%) are high, although within the range reported for rainbow trout. Although the mean genetic distance between the samples was low (D = 0.003), and only 5.2% of the total observed genetic variation can be accounted by interpopulation differences (F-ST = 0.052), eight out of 10 polymorphic loci exhibited significant allelic heterogeneity, Some loci, notably EST-1*, IDHP-3,4*, MEP-1* and PGM-1*, showed considerable discriminatory capacity among the samples. Rainbow trout has a longer history in Chilean waters since salmonid introduction started earlier this century. Under current intensive farming practices, the preliminary information provided in the present paper is likely to be helpful in setting up a baseline for further characterization and/or monitoring of naturalized populations.