Population genetic structures of three congeneric species of coastal pelagic fishes (Arripis: Arripidae) with extensive larval, post-settlement and adult movements

The population genetic structures of three congeneric coastal pelagic marine fishes ( Arripis trutta , A. truttaceus and A. georgianus ) were investigated to determine whether these structures were consistent with the apparently high gene flow life histories of these species. This investigation used fragment length polymorphisms at two to four nDNA intron loci (amplified by EPIC-PCR) in samples of each species collected from across their entire Australian distributions. The results revealed no evidence of genetic subdivision in any species based on an analysis of variation either across samples (with multilocus F ST values ranging from effectively zero to 0.005), or between pairs of samples. These findings, when considered in combination with other available evidence, are consistent with the view that each of these species represents a rare example of a coastal fish species that is genetically homogeneous over a vast area, including the entire geographic range ( A. truttaceus and A. georgianus ) or Australian distribution ( A. trutta ).