New Zealand triplefin fishes (family Tripterygiidae): contrasting population structure and mtDNA diversity within a marine species flock.

Triplefin fishes (Family Tripterygiidae) dominate the New Zealand temperate coastal fish fauna in diversity (26 endemic species, 14 genera). Most species appear to have evolved as a local radiation and mostly occupy sympatric distributions throughout New Zealand. To investigate the forces driving current gene-flow patterns and past evolutionary histories, we searched for common patterns of population genetic subdivision within eight species sampled throughout their distributions [mitchochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region, n = 1086].