Connectivity of cryptobenthic fishes in Australian Marine Parks

Cryptobenthic reef fishes (CRF) comprise diverse families of marine teleost. Their ecological traits are an advantage to inhabit different marine systems along extended latitudinal gradients. Although highly diverse and presenting crucial symbiosis with other fishes they are not considered key species for marine fish conservation. The subtropical coast of Australia presents four main Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that aim to establish connectivity among fish populations. However, there is no study evaluating the connectivity of CRF in MPAs. Self-recruitment, short home range, upwelling and depth are the main boundaries likely limiting gene flow among fish populations. I herein present the genetic structure of the most abundant species of cryptobenthic fishes found along the NSW marine parks, based on mtDNA regions. Results suggest that the MPAs have been providing high connectivity among the populations of the three species, despite of the numerous biogeographic boundaries found along the Eastern coast of Australia, and the ecological features of the species. There is, however, a strong difference in the genetic diversity among species, showing a very homogeneous population of Australian endemic fishes along the entire NSW coast. Genetic diversity and population structure of the CRF are important to evaluate the efficiency of marine protected areas in maintaining population connectivity and investigate the phylogenetic trends of mtDNA among different species of fish.