Balkan Trout Restoration Group Blog

Otočec Congress and Dubrovnik

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:30:00 +0000

BTRG has attended Joint Congress of Slovenian Biochemical Society and Slovenian Genetic Society held in Otočec from September 20 - 23, 2009 participating four posters. Right after the congress, Anja, Urška, Gašper and Aleš proceeded to Mostar, where they visited prof. Bogut, and while sightseeing Mostar, discussed some possibilities of future cooperation between Slovenia, BiH and Croatia. After visiting Baćina lakes, they went to Dubrovnik to meet prof. Branko Glamuzina of the University of Dubrovnik and discuss with him common projects to be applied in near future.

During weekend, BTRG relaxed in cozy accommodation in the town of Zaton close to Dubrovnik, where they enjoyed boating, fishing and sea-food.

Some pics from the congress:

Some pics from Mostar, Dubrovnik and a lot of places in between:

ESEB 2009

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:34:00 +0000

European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) organized 12th congress in Turin, Italy ( 24 -29 August 2009), BTRG was represented by Anja and Urška. It was Urška’s first big congress and her experience is worth posting (after some censorship). BTRG contribution was a poster: Identification of candidate genes involved in skin colouration in Salmo sp. by microarray analysis.

Check the gallery.

My ESEB 2009 experience:

Day 1: Welcome drink

The venue was Politecnico di Torino, a fascinating building with a huge inside court and a staircase from which it was possible to monitor what was going on. Drink and snacks were available. *** alcohol *** juice *** some salty fish ***, but Anja liked it. I abstained from other snacks ***. Finally reached the hotel and get some hard earned sleep.

Day 2-6: Breakfast, lectures, coffee break, lectures, lunch ***, poster session/lectures, shopping, sleep.

Lectures were a BIG disappointment. Most criticism deserve older, "experienced" speakers who had promising starts, but soon lost the tread (and consequently my attention) and finished in such a way that I couldn't understand if the results were good or bad. I can claim with 100% certainty that younger speakers were 1000× better. One of the few good senior speakers started with a one sentence hypothesis and continued with results that were totally unexpected. He concluded the results with "What went wrong?" and then discussed them. Another good speaker had a lecture: "Is life impossible?" (1st slide), No (2nd slide), Acknowledgment (3rd slide) was accompanied by laughter from the audience. Of course he did explain it, but he went on so fast it was hard to follow (well, he was a mathematician). Most of other senior speakers obviously were attending several congresses in the past, using old power point files with 40+ slides attempting to read them in half an hour. And then you hear "We will skip that one", "We don't have time,.....", I don't care how much time you have or not, be prepared for a 25 min presentation and a 5 min discussion. *** and *** are terrible speakers with some singing version of English. And then of course there are coughing speakers not intelligent enough to drink some water. *** So much about speakers.

Lunches? *** no idea *** very dry *** did not eat *** Shopping in the city, a disappointment, vacation time, most shops closed or with unusual open hours *** English language skills *** For the most part, I used my hands. Thumbs up for ice cream and chocolate.

I liked the hotel, meals there were OK, a lot of things to choose from, the room was unusually decorated, but I slept fine.

And that is all I can say about my ESEB 2009 experience.

Second trip to Morocco (August 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:29:00 +0000

First trip to Morocco was last year (here & here). During the second field trip two more sampling sites were added, a few more locations checked were troutless. Participants were Aleš, Saša, Johnnes & daughter. For more pictures click here.

ADDED: Just received a note from Aleš. This trip was actually the third expedition to Morocco. The first was already in June 2006, predating this blog. The participants at that time were Johannes with his daughter, Aleš with his wife and Said of the University Cadi Ayyad.

Sampling with the mayor

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:23:00 +0000

We have extended our collaboration to Primož Župančič, a mayor of Dol pri Ljubljani since 2003. Although he graduated in law, he spends most of his spare time studying rare cyprinid fishes from the Adriatic part of western Balkan Peninsula.

In June, we were together searching for minnows in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There we also met our friend prof. Ivan Bogut in Sovići (muncipality Grude) and spent some pleasant time sampling.

Check the gallery for more photos.

Softmouth trout from Vrljika

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:59:00 +0000

Several field trips and a lot of work was done near Imotski in Croatia. Softmouth trout was perhaps the most interesting fish from that area. Aleš has published a paper in Športski ribolov (Sport Fishing), presenting genetic results to the wider public. Special thanks to Daliborka Dušanić for translation to Croatian.

Another myth busted?

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:56:00 +0000

In the past year, BTRG has performed a comprehensive genetic analysis of dentex trout from the River Neretva. This time we applied an extended set of molecular markers and included for comparison several specimens of "real glavatica" (i.e., marmorated trout from the Neretva), which were badly missing in our preliminary study.

Contrary to our previous hypothesis, dentex trout turned out as genetically indistinct from marmorated trout of the Neretva. We assume that a phenotype characteristic of dentex trout had probably evolved as a consequence of specific local adaptation.

For more information, see the summary of already submitted manuscript below.

The dentex samples were provided by prof. Branko Glamuzina (University of Dubrovnik) and prof. Ivan Bogut (University of Osijek), and the "glavatica" samples by Naris Pojskić (Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology).

Summary

The Balkan Peninsula is home to the most diverse collection of salmonids in the world. Nevertheless, many taxonomic uncertainties remain unresolved despite over a century of studies. Conservation of Balkan salmonid biodiversity hinges in large part upon addressing such uncertainties and is therefore of paramount importance. A notable example is found in the enigmatic Salmo dentex, which has been described by various authors in discontinuous populations ranging from the Aoos river in Greece to the Krka river drainage in Croatia. Current reports suggest it has disappeared from much of its previous range. At present, several contradictory opinions predominate on the taxonomic status of S. dentex without any broad consensus. To help resolve this issue we performed a rigorous molecular genetic analysis using a robust array of mtDNA, microsatellite, and nuclear gene markers of so-called S. dentex of the lower Neretva river drainage alongside other co-inhabiting endemic salmonids (i.e. S. obtusirostris, S. marmoratus, S. trutta). Our results clearly showed three genetically distinct lineages of salmonids with S. dentex being phenotypically distinct yet genetically indistinct from S. marmoratus of the lower Neretva. Based on our results and previous molecular results on Montenegrin dentex, it is clear that S. dentex is not a monophyletic lineage and should not be considered a distinct species on a genetic basis. We hypothesize S. dentex to most likely be polyphyletic assemblage of fish sharing a similar life history and unified phenotype evolved as a consequence of specific local adaptation.

Introducing Klavdija

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:22:00 +0000

Klavdija Bogataj is an undergraduate student of animal science and is currently preparing her graduation thesis "Genetic analysis of autochthonous brown trout (Salmo trutta) in Slovenija and identification of genetically pure populations" (working title).

Her practical working experience as a part of animal science curriculum at the Angling Club of Tržič was followed by sampling expedition with the Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia. After realising that sampled fish are studied by Aleš Snoj she asked him for a graduation thesis mentorship. At the end, Simona Sušnik became her mentor. Klavdija started to work in the laboratory in October 2008 both for her thesis and the autochthonous brown trout project. As the later is done under a scheme similar to summer work she will probably be one of the few people actually working in the lab during the summer.

Spring

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:06:00 +0000

Meteorological spring started on 1st of March, astronomical on 20th of March. At the Dept. of Animal Science, 2 events mark the begining of spring.

Introducing John

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:24:00 +0000

John Zablocki is a recent graduate in Chemistry and Spanish from the University of Montana. He came to Slovenia this September on a Fulbright grant for his project titled "Characterization and conservation of endangered Balkan trout". His first several months in Slovenia were spent working in the Marble Trout Restoration Program in Western Slovenia with the Tolmin Angling Association (Ribiška družina Tolmin). In January he moved from Tolmin to join our lab and is currently working on a project to possibly identify a remaining pure population of Marble trout that were thought to have gone extinct.

He is obsessed with trout, language, fly fishing, and conservation. He plans to continue working in the Balkans to help protect its unique and fragile salmonid biodiversity.

Vrljika field trip, March 09

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:11:00 +0000

In a frame of collaboration with prof. dr. Ivan Bogut from Osijek University, Mr. Ante Mikulić, a representative of Angling club Proložac and our old friend Dušan Jesenšek from RD Tolmin, BTRG organized another field trip to Imotsko polje, in the first place to sample minnows. We were again accompanied with a photographer Arne Hodalič and also with his friend Matej Mihailovski; they were mostly interested in taking photos of the Vrljika softmouth trout and Red Lake scenery.

It was also our intention to meet Manu Esteve and John Zablocki there, who were in the mean time trying hard to film spawning behaviour of the softmouth trout in the neighbouring Neretva River. Unfortunately, we somehow didn’t make it and we are now trying to organize this meeting in Slovenia, were Manu is currently making a stay waiting for Hucho spawning.

Visitors

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:28:00 +0000

The number of visitors on this blog and on the main Balkan Trout site is approaching 10 000. Counting started about a year after the site was launched. While monitoring visitor's IPs has a lot of limitations it is relatively easy to see visitors from Universities. So here is the list so far. Thank you (cite us).

Country and University in alphabetical order:

Aarhus, Antonio de Nebrija, Belgrade, Bern, Bilkent, Cagliari, Charles , Chicago, Cornell, Delaware, delle Marche, Dijon, Edinburgh, Georgetown, Graz, Innsbruck, Kaiserslautern, King Abdulaziz, Lausanne, Laval, Liege, Maribor, Masaryk , Milano, Montana, Montenegro, MontpellierII, Münster, New Mexico, Nijmegen, Niš, Oklahoma State, Oslo, Oxford, Padova, Salford, San Francisco, Sarajevo, Siena, St. Thomas, Stanford, Stirling, Szent Istvan, Teheran, Torino, Toronto, Turku, Udine, Valparaiso, Victoria, Vienna, Washington, Western Australia, Wisconsin-superior, Yale, Zagreb.

Flag icons taken from famfamfam, public domain.

Database

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:10:00 +0000

A database was added to our site, designed by Jurij Krsnik as a part of previously mentioned project. The trout database contains information of all samples of brown and marble trout gathered from Slovenian streams. For every fish, it's photo, location of sampling and results of laboratory analyses are available. The Database was designed to improve the transparency of our research, enable comparison of laboratory findings of collected samples and to simplify new data entry.

Contact the boss for username and password.

Manu

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:57:00 +0000

Manu Esteve, postdoc from University of Toronto is studying behaviour of the Salmonidae family (this family includes trout, salmon, grayling, charr and several others). He recently published some pictures from his expedition to Slovenia, observing the spawning habits of marble trout.

Urška is back

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:29:00 +0000

Urška has returned from maternity leave last month. She has noticed some changes on our site and wanted an animated gif that some BTGR members already have.

And after a few minutes, the result:

An interview and a fishing story

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:58:00 +0000

James Prosek was interviewed by The Itinerant Angler, you can also download the interview (mp3, 41 MB). Among other things he mentioned our group and one of the more memorable field trip. He mentioned that he personally wasn't there, but Steve and Aleš often entertain us with the story.

Fishing story

In 2004 a field trip to Montenegro was organized, involving people from Austria, Slovenia and Serbia, along with local biologists and fisherman. The primary motivation for this trip was to search for the extremely rare and perhaps extinct form of softmouth trout from the Zeta River. The group was well equipped to sample trout, bringing several experienced fly-fisherman, an inflatable boat, and a 5 KW stationary electro-fishing generator, lugged all the way from Austria. The first glimpse of the Zeta generated quite a bit of excitement in this fish hungry crew. The river was surprisingly large and deep, lined with overhanging trees, and teeming with invertebrate life. While we did not necessarily expect to immediately find softmouth trout, we assumed that other trout would be plentiful. However, it quickly became painfully obvious that our experienced and well-equipped crew lacked a certain something necessary to catch Zeta River fish. The first reaction was natural – there are no fish! But each evening around sunset a local guide, Mlađen, who was observing us with some amusement the whole time, slipped away from the café veranda overlooking the Zeta - within an hour or so five or six plump freshly brown trout were slapped down before our eyes. Suspicions, confusion and frustrations were being muttered among us before the fourth evening when Mlađen offered to take Steve along and open Zeta’s door of enlightenment. Some may have thought there was a pond or hatchery around the bend that Mlađen would finally reveal, but instead he pulled one shy trout after another off the bottom of the Zeta with a Tyrolean nymph rig, sometimes from the same run where Steve had just thrown the same rig, 20 times. The rig was key, but not in anyone’s hands as it seemed that only Mlađen had some kind of Dr. Dolittle-like bond with Zeta’s trout. Nonetheless, even he could not come up with any softmouth, are real quarry.

Nearing the end of our week, the pessimism had reached its peak and some of us took a side trip to visit the famous monastery Ostrog, nestled into the high cliffs of the upper Zeta valley. According to common belief, wishes made in certain holy nooks of the monastery can come true. Maybe this is really so, because later in the day upon returning to the river we were approached by a local man who had heard of our struggles to find softmouth trout. He claimed to know where some were, in a small tributary of the Zeta, a few hundred meters from that all too cosy café on the banks of the Zeta. This was our last chance, though we were skeptical. Our skepticism increased as we gazed into the little stream’s clear waters which, like those of the Zeta, revealed no image worthy of even a mirage of a trout. But Johannes, the Carinthian baker who doubles as one of the more well-known explorers of exotic populations of Salmo, quickly donned his snorkelling attire, and made a survey more reliable than any we could have managed with fly lines or electrofishing gear. There were indeed softmouth trout in the stream!

Now we just needed to catch a few. A circus-like atmosphere soon developed, as we dragged the inflatable boat and electro-fishing gear across a meadow, attracting not only an increasing number of people, but a local television crew as well. As fate would have it, the Zeta softmouth, like the Zeta brown trout seemed immune to electricity, managing to stay on the move and just outside of the field around the anode, as if they were well trained. Our growing frustration was being intently monitored by Đoko, the guy who told us about this secret location. Afterall, he had PROMISED we would catch fish. Suddenly he couldn't stand it any more; he slipped into his wet suit, complete with mask, snorkel and fins and waded slowly into the shallow borders of an otherwise three meter deep pool. Observing his gesticulations, we slowly realized what his intention was: he wanted to dive with the anode pole in his hand and try to “harpoon” the fish with the electric field from a close distance. As the vision of this Rambo-esque plan unfolded in everyone’s minds there were varying degrees of resistance, ridicule and shock. With television cameras ready to roll, a multilingual cacophony rose around the pool as each person attempted to define their level of involvement, ranging from pure disassociation to neutral curiosity and on to legal culpability as expressed by Steve who had organized the Austrian crew and University owned electric-fishing set-up. He screamed: “No, no, no…!” But Danilo, from the University of Montenegro tried to explain to Steve that the man had indeed promised we would catch softmouth, and thus, by some rural code of honour he was determined to deliver, and there was nothing we could do to stop him. The decision was made to proceed, but with pre-determined hand signals and a hand on the off/on switch of the generator. Đoko finally got hold of the pole and quickly dove into pool. His hand went up, signaling for the juice, but he quickly emerged shaking his head in disappointment as the generator was correspondingly shut off. He dove again, gave the sign and everyone gasped at the sight of a swirl and a few bubbles – the electricity was only on for a few seconds, but Đoko emerged triumphantly with a softmouth trout in his net, igniting a cheer and celebration on the banks as if a golden-goal had just crossed the net. The act was repeated and several softmouth were landed in a similar fashion.

There were long debates on the dangers and dynamics of electric currents in water, of grounds and wet-suits and insulation. The popular outcome of this action was most likely the result of the fact that the man was indeed quite distant from both the anode and the cathode, with the electric field held out several meters in front of him at the end of a long anode.

P.S. Please note that the authors adamantly discourage anyone from repeating the actions described in this story. Fishing with electricity can be dangerous and should only be done by licensed operators, and all safety regulations should be followed, which in most countries explicitly forbids any form of diving during a sampling action.

Annual testing of marble trout from zone of hybridization

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:32:00 +0000

Just like last year, we performed genetic testing of fish from the zone of hybridization. This year we have received fin clips from 33 individually tagged trout from 2 locations: the River Tolminka, tributary of the River Soča and from the River Soča just below the town of Kobarid. These samples were checked for non native genetic characteristic on 5 nuclear genetic markers (each genetic marker in 2 copies, one allele inherited from each parent) and on 1 mitochondrial genetic marker (in 1 copy, inherited from the mother only). Out of 33 samples, 8 show signs of hybridization with non native trout, 1 sample (sample 20) will not be used because of low quality of DNA isolate. Eggs and sperm will be taken from 24 trout with no detectable brown trout genetic characteristics, fertilised and raised in the hatchery and released back in the zone of hybridization.

Below is a simplified table of genotypes. These genotypes are not publishable, since the initial sampling was biased, only marble trout (by general appearance) were sampled, so the actual percentage of non native alleles in sampled locations might differ from our results (6.6%).

Table of genotypes across 1 mitochondrial and 5 nuclear markers. Samples with non native (=brown trout alleles) are marked red and will not be used in restoration program. f - female, m - male, M - marble trout specific allele, B - brown trout specific allele.

Aquaculture paper

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:01:00 +0000

Another day, another paper. Sušnik et al. paper was published as a technical note in Aquaculture (2008, 285, 260-263), A set of nuclear DNA markers diagnostic for marble trout, Salmo marmoratus.

One of the main problem from the native range of marble trout is hybridisation with non native brown trout (Salmo trutta). It is not always easy to distinguish marble trout from brown trout (or from marble × brown trout hybrids) by appearance especially after a successful decade of repopulation project. Mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite markers have their limitations (maternal inheritance for the first, overlapping alleles for the later) so another set of nuclear markers was urgently needed. Markers from this paper were used exactly one year ago and that means that the 2008 results from hybrid zone will be available in a few days.

LIFFE

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 08:13:00 +0000

LIFFE stands for Ljubljana International Film Festival. Four years ago we were checking the programme and saw a movie with a very fish related title. So members of the BTRG went to see Fickende Fische (Do Fish Do It?). The idea was good and worth repeating. The following year we waited too long to get the tickets so we went to see a movie with absolutely no fish related subject, Les Poupées russes (The Russian Dolls). Last year it was Sonhos de Peixe (Fish Dreams) and this year we selected a documentary Encounters at the End of the World.

4 core members of the BTRG went to see the movie plus 1 special guest star, we also met 2 former co-workers in the cinema. About the movie shot in Antarctica.... It is not a "fluffy penguin movie", more a series of interviews with "professional travellers and occasional workers", and weirdo scientists. We now understand a little bit better what people we meet on field trips think about us and our work.

BTRG and Fisheries Institute of Slovenia have started extensive genetic analysis of brown trout across Slovenia

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:30:00 +0000

Native populations of brown trout in Slovenia are seriously endangered by introduced trout originating from Atlantic hatchery-reared strains.

BTRG and Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia have started systematic screening of brown trout populations across Slovenia in order to assess the extent of “foreign blood” in native brown trout, to locate genetically pure populations and to promote an action plan for rehabilitation and preservation of native brown trout stocks.

The project is funded by the Slovenian Research Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food in the amount of 100000 €, and is being performed in a co-operation with several local angling clubs and associations across Slovenia.

Rozman et al., 2008

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:58:00 +0000

A paper based on Tamara's PhD thesis was just published in Animal Genetics. Two actively transcribed transferrin loci were found in both Salmo trutta and Salmo marmoratus, another evidence of ancient duplication (tetraploidization) of salmonid genome.

Preparation of metaphase chromosomes was performed in cooperation with Petr Rab's lab in Libechov, Czech Republic, fluorescent in situ hybridization was carried out at the Maribor Teaching Hospital, Slovenia.

Reprints available on request.

Introducing Gašper

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:10:00 +0000

Introduction of the new member of BTRG, PhD student under "Young Researcher" program, financed by the Slovenian Research Agency for the next 4.5 years:

My name is Gašper Pustovrh and I study genetics. I love to do things that involve water - like fishing, underwater fishing, free diving, etc. I graduated from veterinary medicine I already as an undergraduate student I knew I want to work with fishes. That is why I applied for a young researcher at the Chair of Genetics, Animal Biotechnology and Immunology in the Balkan trout restoration group. I am trying to find new markers that can differentiate Marble trout from Brown trout which is of great importance in preservation of the Marble trout.

Field trip (sep 2008) - photos

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:10:00 +0000

As promised, here are pictures from Morocco. Most of pictures are by Johannes and some from Aleš's trip from 2006. Saša's camera was stolen somewhere on the way back home.

Field trip (sep 2008)

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:10:00 +0000

BTRG went to Morocco trying to get more brown trout samples for genetic analysis being performed in co-operation with Mohamed Ghamizi and Said Janjani, both from University Cadi Ayyad, Marrakech, and Patrick Berrebi. Aleš, Saša and Johannes crisscrossed the country searching mainly for brown trout from the Mediterranean drainage.

Brown trout of Atlantic lineage was recently found in Sicily, therefore populations in North Africa might represent a link to populations of Atlantic lineage in Spain. Preliminary genetic analysis of Moroccan brown trout confirmed that at least those from the Atlantic drainage appear to be closely related to brown trout from Iberian Peninsula. Previously, Bo Delling has studied Moroccan brown trout from morphological perspective, now, we intend to analyse them also from the genetic perspective.

Picture gallery will be uploaded in the next few days.

Workshop in La Fouly

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:50:00 +0000

Andrej participated in a workshop "Managing adaptive genetic variation in conservation biology" organized by the University of Lausanne in La Fouly, Switzerland, between 3-6 September 2008. Invited speakers and participants presented theoretical and practical examples of how to detect and manage traits that are under selection in a specific local environment. Andrej presented his work in progress "Establishing a brood stock of least introgressed native brown trout from admixed populations".

Some pictures from the workshop can be found here.

Field trip (jul 2008)

noreply@blogger.com (BTRG) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:18:00 +0000

BTRG planned an ambitious July field trip. Not everything went according to plan.

First part was another sampling at Imotski, home of the one and only Vrljika soft mouth trout. The plan was to sample gaovica (Delyminichtis adspersus), just like in February and to take pictures of Soft mouth trout. The driving force for the later was Arne Hodalič, photographer, world traveller, journalist, scuba diver and cave explorer.

Half of the team returned home, others met with Saša in Montenegro and attempted to sample salmonids and other fish in Montenegro and Kosovo using the new generator. Due to bad weather, this part of the field trip ended prematurely and the team had to return home.

More pictures from the expedition available here.