1 3 Mar Biol DOI 10.1007/s00227-014-2516-5 ORIGINAL PAPER Round herring (genus Etrumeus) contain distinct evolutionary lineages coincident with a biogeographic barrier along Australia’s southern temperate coastline Joseph D. DiBattista · John E. Randall · Stephen J. Newman · Brian W. Bowen Received: 10 March 2014 / Accepted: 1 August 2014 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Results from morphological and mitochondrial DNA data reveal two evolutionary lineages corresponding to eastern and southwestern provinces (d = 0.007 for cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and d = 0.017 for cytochrome b), pos- sibly initiated by the Bassian Isthmus between Australia and Tasmania during low sea-level stands. The Australian round herring is also genetically distinct from the nearest congeneric forms in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with a corresponding modal difference in gill-raker counts in most cases. Based on these data, we resurrect the title Etrumeus jacksoniensis for the Australian round herring. While the Bassian Isthmus may have initiated the partition of evolu- tionary lineages within Australia, additional oceanographic and ecological factors must reinforce this separation in order to maintain diagnostic genetic differences along a continuous temperate coastline. Introduction Biogeographic provinces provide a pragmatic framework for the management of biodiversity. Given that fisher- ies agencies cannot individually address all species under threat, the delineation of biogeographic units characterized by exceptional endemism (and evolutionary innovation; Briggs and Bowen 2013) provides a foundation for con- serving biological communities in our oceans. Marine bio- geographic provinces have undergone at least three recent revisions (Spalding et al. 2007; Briggs and Bowen 2012; Kulbicki et al. 2013). Although the boundaries of these provinces are likely to shift given the vagaries of oceano- graphic conditions, human impacts, and methodological approach; all iterations serve as a framework for the estab- lishment of management guidelines that incorporate evolu- tionary principles. Abstract Molecular genetic surveys of marine fishes have revealed that some widely distributed species are actu- ally a composite of multiple evolutionary lineages. This is apparent in the round herrings (genus Etrumeus), wherein a globally distributed taxon (Etrumeus sadina Mitchill 1814) has proven to contain at least seven valid taxa, with more likely awaiting discovery. Here, we survey evolutionary lin- eages of the nominal E. sadina (formerly E. teres, a junior synonym) across the southern temperate zone of Australia, a marine region divided into three biogeographic provinces based primarily on the distribution of intertidal faunas. Communicated by M. Taylor. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00227-014-2516-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. J. D. DiBattista (*) Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia e-mail: joseph99@hawaii.edu J. E. Randall Bernice P. Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St., Honolulu, HI 96817, USA S. J. Newman Western Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories, Department of Fisheries, Government of Western Australia, P.O. Box 20, North Beach, WA 6920, Australia S. J. Newman Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia B. W. Bowen Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology, P.O. Box 1346, Kaneohe, HI 96744, USA