Genetic structure of the benthic amphipod diporeia (Amphipoda: Pontoporeiidae) and its relationship to abundance in Lake Superior

The freshwater amphipod Diporeia is a crucial part of the food web in the Laurentian Great Lakes, but has faced serious declines correlated with the invasion of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), except in Lake Superior, which has seen an increase in Diporeia abundance. Speculation on the mechanisms causing changes in Diporeia densities has not included the possibility of evolutionarily distinct lineages of Diporeia within the Great Lakes. In this study, we use cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) DNA sequence data to investigate the evolutionary history of Lake Superior Diporeia relative to the other Great Lakes and consider potential population structuring within Lake Superior based upon depth or geography. Our analyses reveal that Lake Superior Diporeia represent a distinct lineage that diverged from populations of the other lakes at least several hundred thousand years ago. F statistics show that two localities within Lake Superior were significantly differentiated from all other locales, but analysis of molecular variance did not find significant structure based on depth or geography. Genetic diversity within Lake Superior was not correlated with depth, although abundance was significantly negatively correlated with increasing depth.