Open AccessGene flow, population growth and a novel substitution rate estimate in a subtidal rock specialist, the black‐faced blenny T ripterygion delaisi ( P erciformes, B lennioidei, T ripterygiidae) from the A driatic S ea
Author(s) -
Koblmüller Stephan,
Steinwender Bernd,
Weiß Sara,
Sefc Kristina M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of zoological systematics and evolutionary research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.769
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1439-0469
pISSN - 0947-5745
DOI - 10.1111/jzs.12110
Subject(s) - biological dispersal , biology , phylogeography , population , ecology , last glacial maximum , mtdna control region , effective population size , mediterranean sea , mediterranean climate , fishery , oceanography , glacial period , genetic variation , paleontology , phylogenetics , geology , biochemistry , demography , sociology , genotype , haplotype , gene
Population histories depend on the interplay between exogeneous and endogeneous factors. In marine species, phylogeographic and demographic patterns are often shaped by sea level fluctuations, water currents and dispersal ability. Using mitochondrial control region sequences ( n = 120), we infer phylogeographic structure and historic population size changes of a common littoral fish species, the black‐faced blenny T ripterygion delaisi ( P erciformes, B lennioidei, T ripterygiidae) from the north‐eastern A driatic S ea. We find that A driatic T . delaisi are differentiated from conspecific populations in the remaining M editerranean, but display little phylogeographic structure within the A driatic basin. The pattern is consistent with passive dispersal of planktonic larvae along cyclonic currents within the A driatic S ea, but limited active dispersal of adults. Demographic reconstructions are consistent with recent population expansion, probably triggered by rising sea levels after the last glacial maximum ( LGM ). Placing the onset of population growth between the LGM and the warming of surface waters (18 000–13 000 years BP ) and employing a novel expansion dating approach, we inferred a substitution rate of 2.61–3.61% per site per MY . Our study is one of only few existing investigations of the genetic structure of animals within the Adriatic basin and is the first to provide an estimate for mitochondrial control region substitution rates in blennioid fishes.