Genetic history of salmonid fishes of the genus Oncorhynchus

This review discusses genetic approaches to solving important problems of evolutionary biology of salmonid fishes with special reference to Pacific salmon and trout. The problems of the genetic phylogeny of salmonid fishes, including issues of the consistency/inconsistency of phylogenetic tree topologies built using genetic and phenotypic characteristics, the timing of the main phylogenetic events, the relationships among different taxa, including the mutual status of Pacific salmon and trout, and others are discussed. The problems of the tetraploidization of the salmonid fishes, as well as the dilemma of their freshwater/marine origin, and the semelparity of some of the species are reviewed.