Distribution and hybridization of two sedentary gobies (Pomatoschistus microps and Pomatoschistus marmoratus) in the lagoons of southern France

Pomatoschistus marmoratus and Pomatoschistus microps are small sedentary gobies inhabiting the lagoons of European Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. Along the French Mediterranean coast their respective geographical distribution is not precisely known, in part because they are cryptic species. In this study, 512 gobies of both species were caught as 17 samples in 12 lagoons of the Gulf of Lion on the French Mediterranean coast. They were genotyped at six microsatellite loci and investigated statistically using multidimensional analyses, Bayesian assignment (Structure) and NewHybrids classification. This allowed the contrasted distribution of each species (P. microps in the east, P. marmoratus in the west) to be described, with several exceptions. Neither geographic structure nor isolation by distance was detected among differentiated populations of each species. The suggested mechanism is a deep sedentary behaviour associated with foundations following extinctions. The two species are sympatric or even in syntopy in five or six sampled lagoons producing rare fertile hybrids.