Phylogeography and demographic history of Atherina presbyter (Pisces: Atherinidae) in the North-eastern Atlantic based on mitochondrial DNA

Abstract

A fragment of the mitochondrial control region was used to assess phylogeographic patterns and historical demography of the sand-smelt Atherina presbyter in the North-eastern Atlantic, covering its geographical range. A striking result is the highly marked diVerentiation between the Canary Islands population and western European ones. A genetic structure among European populations of A. presbyter was revealed, with a pattern of isolation-by-distance or a gradient eVect at a scale of hundreds kilometres, an uncommon pattern likely related to the biological and life-history traits of the sand-smelt. The northern European populations present a much lower genetic diversity when compared to southern populations, which is consistent with a recent colonization from southern populations. The results showed signs of Pleistocene signatures, with the population age estimates for the European populations being clearly older than the Last Glacial Maximum (18,000 years bp). Nevertheless, paleotemperature reconstructions show that the sand-smelt could not have inhabited the western European shores during the last glacial phase.

Climate Change and Genetic Structure of Leading Edge and Rear End Populations in a Northwards Shifting Marine Fish Species, the Corkwing Wrasse (Symphodus melops)

“…), favouring local spawning and larval retention, generating population structure. The apparent absence of such structuring within the Iberian Peninsula, in contrast, may result from corkwing wrasse larvae in this region being exposed to stronger currents and higher dispersal, leading to higher gene flow, as observed in other species in that region [13], [51], [52].…”

Refugia of marine fish in the northeast Atlantic during the last glacial maximum: concordant assessment from archaeozoology and palaeotemperature reconstructions

“…This is particularly true for haddock, pollock, and allis shad where the few molecular marker studies have indicated weak population structure among stocks, which was effectively erased during the LGM (see Jamieson andBirley, 1989 andReiss et al 2009 for haddock;Charrier et al, 2006 for pollock;and Alexandino and Boisneau, 2000 for shad). For some species, the population age estimated from molecular markers may be inexplicably older than the known length of habitat occupation since the LGM (Francisco et al, 2009). Fish of low dispersal ability are valuable tracers of glacial refugia, and the sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus) is one such model marine species whose present population structure is a legacy of range constrictions during the glacial period (Gysels et al, The red boxes present the possible marine refugia reviewed by Maggs et al (2008).…”

Phylogeography of the shanny Lipophrys pholis (Pisces: Blenniidae) in the NE Atlantic records signs of major expansion event older than the last glaciation

“…This holds even for organisms that seem to have been able to invade the North Sea after the last glaciation (e.g. A. presbyter in Francisco et al, 2009; S. sprattus in Debes et al, 2008). This is not a generalised result and past expansion associated with the LGM has also been found in some marine organisms (e.g.…”

“…Finally, the values of N 0 are well above zero, indicating that the expansions began from a population that was not subjected to a drastic bottleneck. Several studies on European coastal organisms also showed past expansion events clearly older than the LGM: A. presbyter (Francisco et al, 2009), Pomatoschistus minutus (Larmuseau et al, 2009), Fucus serratus (Hoarau et al, 2007), Pollicipes pollicipes (Campo et al, 2010), etc. This holds even for organisms that seem to have been able to invade the North Sea after the last glaciation (e.g.…”

“…Domingues et al, 2005), to the south of the Iberian Peninsula (e.g. Francisco et al, 2009), and for cooler water species in unglaciated areas in northwest Iberia, southwest Ireland and the northern Britanny -Hurd Deep region of the English Channel, where a marine lake persisted during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM -18 kya) (e.g. Hoarau et al, 2007).…”