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Parent GJ, Plourde S, Joly P, Turgeon J
Phenology and fitness of Calanus glacialis, C. finmarchicus (Copepoda), and their hybrids in the St. Lawrence Estuary
Hybrids between Calanus glacialis and C. finmarchicus cohabit with their parental species from the Arctic to the North Atlantic. Parent and co-authors compared the reproductive phenology and the fitness of hybrids and parental species by sampling active females from the surface of the St. Lawrence Estuary. The reproductive phenology of hybrids occurred between that of parental species. In contrast, fitness components such as the egg production rate of hybrids matched those of their maternal ancestor over the sampling interval. The different reproductive phenology of hybrids and parental species reduces interspecific gene flow and thus explains the small effect of hybridization on parental species population size. More extensive surveys are required to assess the global effect of hybridization on population size.