Where herring worlds collide: A view of Alaska’s herring biodiversity through a genomic lens

Herring play important roles in Alaska’s marine ecosystems, including serving as bridges for energy to flow from microscopic life to the larger animals that draw more interest and attention, such as cods, halibut, marine mammals and seabirds. Today, biologists recognize just two species of herring of the genus Clupea: the Atlantic and Pacific herring, Clupea harengus and Clupea pallasii, respectively. Both have separate northern hemisphere geographic ranges only coming in contact along the Arctic coast of Europe. However, growing evidence from genetics points to the existence of a third species.

A team of fish fanatics at the University of Alaska Museum of the North (UAMN) and College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, with help of a broad networ