Determining the genetic characteristics of natural fish stocks is useful for conservation and aquaculture programs. For African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, genetic characterization could help identify populations suitable as brood stock for culture, and those in need of conservation. This study determined the genetic diversity, population structure, and demographic history of C. gariepinus from Lakes Victoria (LV), Kenyatta (LKE), Kamnarok (LKA), and Rivers Nyando (NR), Tana (TR) and Sosiani (SR) in Kenya. Using 128 DNA sequences of D‐loop control region, 34 haplotypes were recovered, of which 79.4% were singletons. Only 7 haplotypes were shared between sites, implying little gene flow between sites. Number of haplotypes was highest in LKE and NR populations and lowest in SR. Haplotype diversity was highest in LV, and lowest in SR, while, nucleotide diversity was highest in LKA and lowest in LV. Phylogenetic analyses revealed five clusters: Lakes Victoria, Kamnarok and Kenyatta, and Rivers Tana and Nyando, from both maximum likelihood tree and minimum spanning network. This, together with significant F_ST values among the sites imply population differentiation. Mismatch distributions were multi‐modal in LKA, LKE, NR and TR, signifying demographic equilibria. Neutrality tests Tajima`s D values for the sampled populations were negative and significantly different, suggesting stable populations. These results show the existence of genetically distinct populations of C. gariepinus that require spatially explicit management actions such as reducing fishing pressure, pollution, minimizing habitat destruction and fragmentation for sustainable utilisation of stocks.

中文翻译：

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肯尼亚非洲African鱼（Clarias gariepinus）（Burchell，1822年）的部分湖滨和河滨种群的遗传多样性和种群结构

确定天然鱼类种群的遗传特征对于保护和水产养殖计划很有用。对于非洲cat鱼（Clarias gariepinus），遗传表征可以帮助确定适合作为养殖亲鱼种群的种群以及需要保护的种群。这项研究确定了C. gariepinus的遗传多样性，种群结构和人口历史来自肯尼亚的维多利亚湖（LV），肯雅塔（LKE），卡那罗克（LKA）和尼安多河（NR），塔纳（TR）和索西亚尼（SR）的河流。使用D环控制区的128个DNA序列，回收了34个单倍型，其中79.4％为单例。位点之间仅共享7种单倍型，这意味着位点之间的基因流很少。单倍型的数量在LKE和NR人群中最高，而在SR人群中最低。单体型多样性在LV中最高，而在SR中最低，而核苷酸多样性在LKA中最高而在LV中最低。系统发育分析从最大似然树和最小跨度网络中发现了五个簇：维多利亚湖，卡那罗克湖和肯雅塔湖，以及塔纳河和尼扬多河。这，连同重要的F _ST这些地点之间的价值意味着人口分化。LKA，LKE，NR和TR中的不匹配分布是多模式的，表示人口均衡。中立性测试田岛的抽样人群的D值为负，并且有显着差异，表明人口稳定。这些结果表明存在遗传上不同的加拿大油茶种群，需要空间上明确的管理措施，例如降低捕捞压力，污染，最小化栖息地破坏和破碎化，以实现种群的可持续利用。