Bear Paw, Alaska

Bear Paw Lake, Alaska

Bear Paw lake is a small (18.2 ha), shallow (mean depth 3.0 m, maximum depth 5.2 m) freshwater lake in the Matanuska-Suisitna Valley of Alaska. This population was the source population for the first stickleback genome project. Bear Paw fish are small, low plated, and their pelvic structure is highly reduced compared to other populations—see Article from PNAS 2004 below.

Publications related to this population below

• Article from Nature April 2012

  The genomic basis of adaptive evolution in threespine stickebacks

• Article from PNAS 2004

  Parallel genetic basis for repeated evolution of armor loss in Alaskan threespine stickleback populations

• Article in American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) 1994

  Pelvic Reduction in Threespine Stickleback from Cook Inlet Lakes: Geographical Distribution and Intrapopulation Variation