Multispecies colour polymorphisms associated with contrasting microhabitats in two Mediterranean wrasse radiations

Intraspecific colour polymorphisms present unique opportunities to study fundamental evolutionary questions, such as the link between ecology and phenotype, mechanisms maintaining genetic diversity and their putative role in speciation. Wrasses are highly diverse in ecology and morphology and harbour a variety of colour polymorphic species. In the Mediterranean Sea, wrasses of the tribe Labrini evolved two species radiations each harbouring several species with a brown and a green morph. The colour morphs occur in complete sympatry in mosaic habitats with rocky outcrops and Neptune grass patches. Morph-specific differences had not been characterized yet and the evolutionary forces maintaining them remained unknown. With genome-wide data for almost all Labrini species, we show that species with colour polymorphisms are distributed across the phylogeny, but show evidence of hybridization. This suggests that the colour morphs are either ancient and have been lost repeatedly, that they have..., Phylogeny based on RAD sequencing data and scripts to produce the figures and analyses shown in the paper by Fark et al., 2022, JEB.,