Allozyme variation and the recognition of the “white stickleback”

An undescribed form of Gasterosteus (the “white stickleback”) is sympatric with Gasterosteus aculeatus in Nova Scotia. Allozyme products of 19 presumptive loci were examined via starch gel electrophoresis for two geographic samples of G. aculeatus and one sample of the white stickleback from northeastern Nova Scotia. Contingency chi-square tests failed to demonstrate statistically significant differences between the allozymic array among geographic samples of G. aculeatus or between G. aculeatus and the undescribed form. Thus, allozyme data do not falsify the null hypothesis of no difference between the white stickleback and other Nova Scotia populations of G. aculeatus. These data suggest that the white stickleback is part of a panmictic population and do not contribute to its recognition as a separate species