How sea-level change mediates genetic divergence in coastal species across regions with varying tectonic and sediment processes

Plate tectonics and sediment processes control regional continental shelf topography. We examine the genetic consequences of how glacial-associated sea-level change interacted with variable near-shore topography since the last glaciation. We reconstructed the size and distribution of areas suitable for tidal estuary formation from the Last Glacial Maximum, ~20 thousand years ago, to present from San Francisco, California, USA (~38 °N) to Reforma, Sinaloa, Mexico (~25 °N). We assessed range-wide genetic structure and diversity of three co-distributed tidal estuarine fishes (California Killifish, Shadow Goby, Longjaw Mudsucker) along ~4,600 km using mitochondrial control region and cytB sequence, and 16–20 microsatellite loci from a total of 524 individuals. Results show that glacial-associated sea-level change limited estuarine habitat to few, widely separated refugia at glacial lowstand, and present-day genetic clades were sourced from specific refugia. Habitat increased during postglac...