The evidence for adaptive phenotypic differentiation in mobile marine species remains scarce, partly due to the difficulty of obtaining quantitative genetic data to demonstrate the genetic basis of the observed phenotypic differentiation. Using a combination of phenotypic and molecular genetic approaches, we elucidated the relative roles of natural selection and genetic drift in explaining lateral plate number differentiation in threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) across the entire Baltic Sea basin (ca. 392 000 km2). We found that phenotypic differentiation (PST = 0.213) in plate number exceeded that in neutral markers (FST = 0.008), suggesting an adaptive basis for the observed differentiation. Since a close correspondence was found between plate phenotype and genotype at a QTL (STN381) tightly linked to the gene (Ectodysplasin) underlying plate variation, the evidence for adaptive differentiation was confirmed by comparison of FST at the QTL (FSTQ = 0.089) with FST at neutral marker loci. Hence, the results provide a comprehensive demonstration of adaptive phenotypic differentiation in a high gene flow marine environment with direct, rather than inferred, verification for the genetic basis of this differentiation. In general, the results illustrate the utility of PST – FST – FSTQ comparisons in uncovering footprints of natural selection and evolution, and add to the growing evidence for adaptive genetic differentiation in high-gene flow marine environments, including that of the relatively young Baltic Sea.