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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 58(4)

A rethink on Retropinna: conservation implications of new taxa and significant genetic sub-structure in Australian smelts (Pisces : Retropinnidae)

Michael P. Hammer A B D , Mark Adams B , Peter J. Unmack C and Keith F. Walker A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Earth and Environmental Sciences DP312, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.

B Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.

C Department of Integrative Biology, 401 WIDB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.

D Corresponding author. Email: michael.hammer@adelaide.edu.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 58(4) 327-341 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF05258
Submitted: 22 December 2005  Accepted: 6 February 2007   Published: 13 April 2007

Abstract

The smelt genus Retropinna nominally includes three small (<150 mm) freshwater fish species endemic to south-eastern Australia and New Zealand. For the two Australian species, the broad range of R. semoni (Weber) on the mainland suggests some vulnerability to isolation and genetic divergence, whereas the apparent confinement of R. tasmanica McCulloch to Tasmania is curious if, as suspected, it is anadromous. Analyses of Australian material using allozyme electrophoresis show five genetically distinct species with contiguous ranges and no evidence of genetic exchange. Three occur along the eastern seaboard (including three instances of sympatry), another in coastal and inland south-eastern Australia and Tasmania, and a fifth species in the Lake Eyre Basin. There is no indication of a simple ‘tasmanica’ v. ‘semoni’ dichotomy, but instead a complex pattern involving discrete clusters for the Upper Murray plus Darling rivers, Lower Murray, Glenelg River and Tasmanian regions, with coastal western Victorian samples having varying affinity to these groups. The overall pattern is one of deep divergences among species and strong genetic sub-structuring within and provides a strong argument for extended studies to prepare for appropriate conservation measures.

Additional keywords: Cooper Creek, cryptic species, molecular systematics, Murray-Darling Basin, taxonomy.


Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Maree Hammer, Simon Westergaard, Ruan Gannon, Troy Ristic, Mike Baltzly and others for field assistance. Our thanks also to Jean Jackson (Inland Fisheries Service, Tasmania) for providing collection localities and tissues from the Great Forrester River, Tarmo Raadik (Arthur Rylah Institute, Melbourne) for providing tissues from Lake Tooliorook and for helpful comments on the manuscript, and the Australian Museum, Sydney for providing access to frozen tissues. Financial support to M. P. H. was provided by the Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology and an Australian Postgraduate Award. Permits for field collecting were obtained from PIRSA Fisheries (SA), Inland Fisheries Service (TAS), Natural Resources and Environment (VIC), New South Wales Fisheries, and Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (QLD).


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