Genetic Comparison of the Invasive Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) and Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) in Young Lake

Authors: Angelina Fazzini, Lynda McMaster-Schuyler

SUNY Campus: SUNY Cobleskill

Presentation Type: Poster

Location: Old Union Hall

Presentation #: 40

Timeslot: Session B 10:15-11:15 AM

Abstract: Lepomis cyanellus and Lepomis macrochirus, also known as the green sunfish and the bluegill, are native to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Basin in the Midwestern United States. However, in the early 1900s, both species were stocked for sport fishing by the United States Fish Commission in the Susquehanna River and other Chesapeake tributaries (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, n.d.). They have been invading Northeastern waters since then, including varying Mohawk River tributaries such as the Schoharie Creek (U.S. Geological Survey, 2024). The present study aims to provide a genetic comparison between invasive Lepomis cyanellus and Lepomis macrochirus individuals in the Northeastern United States, specifically from Young Lake, which is part of the Schoharie Creek watershed. Both species are of the same genus and are able to breed with each other, implying some degree of similarity represented by shared genomic segments. Eluted genomic DNA extracted from the muscle tissue of deceased individuals is subject to random primer polymerase chain reactions (PCR). After electrophoresing the randomly amplified gene loci, the DNA bands produced are visualized and used to calculate band-sharing (BS) values. Comparisons are drawn by averaging individual BS values from each sequential random primer PCR. This experiment provides further insight into the genetic relationship between these two invasive species.