Regional differentiation and post-glacial expansion of the Atlantic silverside, Menidia menidia, an annual fish with high dispersal potential.

ABSTRACT: The coastal marine environment of the Northwest Atlantic contains strong environmental gradients that create distinct marine biogeographic provinces by limiting dispersal, recruitment, and survival. This region has also been subjected to numerous Pleistocene glacial cycles, resulting in repeated extirpations and recolonizations in northern populations of marine organisms. In this study, we examined patterns of genetic structure and historical demography in the Atlantic silverside, Menidia menidia, an annual marine fish with high dispersal potential but with well-documented patterns of clinal phenotypic adaptation along the environmental gradients of the Northwest Atlantic. Contrary to previous studies indicating genetic homogeneity that should preclude regional adaptation, results d

SUBMITTER: Mach ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3873031 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature