The genetic analysis of Brachyplatystoma platynemum individuals sampled from the lower Madeira River reinforces the existence of two structured populations in the Amazon Basin (Madeira and Amazon populations). However, the recapture of an individual from the Amazon population in the Solimões River, which was telemetry-tagged in the Madeira River after the damming, indicates that fish from the Amazon population move between the two river systems. This has not yet been observed, however, in the Madeira River population, which is currently divided and isolated in the lower and upper Madeira River by the construction of two dams.
Keywords: Brachyplatystoma platynemum; Amazon Basin; genetic flow; migratory catfish; telemetry.
© 2019 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.