Genetic population structure of spotted seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus along the south‐eastern U.S.A.

Analyses of the genetic population structure of spotted seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus along the south‐eastern U.S. coast using 13 microsatellites suggest significant population differentiation between fish in North Carolina (NC) compared with South Carolina (SC) and Georgia (GA), with New River, NC, serving as an area of integration between northern and southern C. nebulosus. Although there is a significant break in gene flow between these areas, the overall pattern throughout the sampling range represents a gradient in genetic diversification with the degree of geographic separation. Latitudinal distance and estuarine density appear to be main drivers in the genetic differentiation of C. nebulosus along the south‐eastern U.S. coast. The isolation‐by‐distance gene‐flow pattern creates fine‐scale differences in the genetic composition of proximal estuaries and dictates that stocking must be confined to within 100 km of the location of broodstock collection in order to maintain the natural gradient of genetic variation along the south‐eastern U.S. coast.