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Isolation and speciation of tidepool fishes as a consequence of Quaternary sea-level fluctuations

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Abstract

Dispersal is fundamental to the colonization of oceanic islands that were never connected to larger landmasses. For species with limited dispersal capabilities, colonization of remote islands can be followed by isolation and speciation. The tidepool fish community of Trindade Island, 1,160 km off the Brazilian coast at the eastern end of the Vitória-Trindade Chain, is composed of 18 species from 11 families. Four endemics accounted for 48 % of the total number and 10 % of the total fish weight in tidepools. The fact that the five species confirmed to be endemic to Trindade are restricted to intertidal and shallow waters indicate that in the present interglacial period the seamounts of the Vitória-Trindade Chain do not allow dispersal following a stepping-stones model. Thus, seamounts must have been used as stepping-stones when emerged during lower sea-level periods of the Pleistocene, but this connection was definitively interrupted when they became submerged at the end of the last glaciation. This highlights the importance of considering sea level fluctuations as a structuring factor of intertidal and shallow water communities at oceanic localities.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ruy B. Santos, Omar Quintanilha and Marcos Amaral for field support and Alfredo Carvalho-Filho and João Luiz Gasparini for insights. José Lima de Figueiredo kindly authorized the use of the fish illustrations. Benjamin Victor for reviewing earlier versions of the manuscript. Logistical support for field trips was provided by the First Naval District of the Brazilian Navy and the Projeto Tamar (Trindade and Martin Vaz), and the Brazilian Environmental Protection Agency ICMBio (Saint Paul’s Rocks, Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and Rocas Atoll). Post-graduate fellowships were provided by CAPES (to RMM and TS) and FAPESP (to CRP). Sampling was performed in according to law and animal care regulations.

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  1. Laboratório de Ictiologia, Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, 29075-910, Vitória, ES, Brazil

    Raphael M. Macieira, Thiony Simon, Caio R. Pimentel & Jean-Christophe Joyeux

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  1. Raphael M. Macieira
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  2. Thiony Simon
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Correspondence to Raphael M. Macieira.

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Macieira, R.M., Simon, T., Pimentel, C.R. et al. Isolation and speciation of tidepool fishes as a consequence of Quaternary sea-level fluctuations. Environ Biol Fish 98, 385–393 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-014-0269-0

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