Ancient DNA evidence for the ecological globalization of cod fishing in medieval and post-medieval Europe.

Understanding the historical emergence and growth of long-range fisheries can provide fundamental insights into the timing of ecological impacts and the development of coastal communities during the last millennium. Whole-genome sequencing approaches can improve such understanding by determining the origin of archaeological fish specimens that may have been obtained from historic trade or distant water. Here, we used genome-wide data to individually infer the biological source of 37 ancient Atlantic cod specimens ( 1050-1950 CE) from England and Spain.

The globalization of naval provisioning: ancient DNA and stable isotope analyses of stored cod from the wreck of the Mary Rose, AD 1545.

A comparison of ancient DNA (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope evidence suggests that stored cod provisions recovered from the wreck of the Tudor warship Mary Rose, which sank in the Solent, southern England, in 1545, had been caught in northern and transatlantic waters such as the northern North Sea and the fishing grounds of Iceland and Newfoundland. This discovery, underpinned by control data from archaeological samples of cod bones from potential source regions, illuminates the role of naval provisioning in the early development of extensive sea fisheries, with their long-term economic and ecological impacts.

European colonization by the spined loach (Cobitis taenia) from Ponto-Caspian refugia based on mitochondrial DNA variation.

In the last 20 years, new species, asexual reproduction, polyploidy and hybridization have all been reported within the genus Cobitis. An understanding of the current distribution and baseline phylogeographical history of 'true' nonhybrid Cobitis species is crucial in order to unravel these discoveries. In the present work, we investigated the phylogeography of the spined loach, Cobitis taenia, using 1126 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from 174 individuals collected at 47 sites.

Substratum preferences and diel activity patterns of spined loach Cobitis taenia in England: implications for conservation management.

The substratum preferences of spined loach from eastern England differed significantly between fish of different age groups, sexes, habitat origin (river or drainage ditches) and even between ditches, under experimental conditions. Spined loach from drainage ditches preferred organic sediments, while those from a river showed more variable substratum choice. Significant inter-individual differences were found in river fish, with juveniles preferring sand, while males preferred organic sediment and females gravel.

Cytogenetic characteristics of the fish genus Cobitis from England.

The chromosomes of spiny loach specimens, genus Cobitis, from three populations in England were examined using Giemsa staining, Ag-NOR, C-banding and CMA3 techniques. All individuals examined invariably had a diploid chromosome number 2n=48 and a karyotype composed of ten metacentric, eighteen submetacentric and twenty subtelo-acrocentric chromosomes. The results revealed that only C.