Astotin Lake Brook Stickleback Polymorphism and Sex Determination

Several stickleback species share a parallel pattern of morphological evolution: in each species, freshwater populations have evolved the reduction or complete loss of pelvic structures (i.e., pelvic girdles and spines). In addition, mechanisms of genetic sex determination are highly variable among stickleback species. This project uses polymorphic populations of brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) to investigate the parallelism in the genetic basis of pelvic spine loss among stickleback species, and to conduct a comparative study of genetic sex determination mechanisms across stickleback species.