GENETIC-VARIATION WITHIN AND AMONG POPULATIONS OF THE COMMON MYNA (ACRIDOTHERES-TRISTIS) IN HAWAII

Allozymic variation was assessed in populations of the introduced common myna (Acridotheres tristis) on four of the eight main islands of Hawaii. Common mynas were introduced into Hawaii from India in 1865. They spread to and are presently abundant in urban and rural regions on all of the inhabited islands. Variation was assessed by electrophoresis at 21 of 39 loci known from an earlier study to be polymorphic in mynas in their native range in India. Our results are in accord with the previous finding that samples in Hawaii have significantly fewer alleles but not lower heterozygosity than source populations in India. We found no significant interpopulational heterogeneity in allozyme allele frequencies by contingency table analysis. The mean of F(st) for the seven variable loci was 0.007 +/- 0.012. This level of differentiation was considerably lower than what had been found previously in native populations in India and in introduced populations in New Zealand. The lack of interpopulational differentiation is consistent with findings of high vagility and low natal philopatry in mynas on Oahu.