TY - JOUR
T1 - Resource trait specialisation in an introduced fish population with reduced genetic diversity
AU - Sowersby, Will
AU - Lehtonen, Topi K.
AU - Ravinet, Mark
AU - Barluenga, Marta
AU - Wong, Bob B.M.
PY - 2020/8/1
Y1 - 2020/8/1
N2 - Ecological specialisation is hypothesised to play a major role in the evolution of phenotypic diversity, especially following the colonisation of novel habitats. For example, cichlid fishes provide some of the most remarkable evidence for rapid ecological diversification. Here, we capitalised on a recently (≤ 40 years ago) introduced population of red devils (Amphilophus labiatus) in Australia to investigate adaptive phenotypic responses to a novel environment. We used stomach content analyses, morphometrics and laboratory experiments to test for covariation between diet and size of an important trophic trait, lip size. We found that, while maximum lip size in the study population was smaller than in the species’ natural range, the proportions of algae, insects and fish remains in the diet covaried with lip size. However, contrary to predictions, we found no evidence for lip development to be plastic under laboratory conditions in relation to substrate complexity or food manipulation, nor did we find any relationship between lip morphology and feeding performance in adults. Single nucleotide polymorphism data, in turn, suggested that the introduced population has reduced standing genetic variation, which potentially influences both phenotypic plasticity and diversity, in comparison to native populations. Together, the results suggest that morphological variation in a key trophic trait can respond rapidly to diet in a novel environment, despite reduced genetic diversity in the population.
AB - Ecological specialisation is hypothesised to play a major role in the evolution of phenotypic diversity, especially following the colonisation of novel habitats. For example, cichlid fishes provide some of the most remarkable evidence for rapid ecological diversification. Here, we capitalised on a recently (≤ 40 years ago) introduced population of red devils (Amphilophus labiatus) in Australia to investigate adaptive phenotypic responses to a novel environment. We used stomach content analyses, morphometrics and laboratory experiments to test for covariation between diet and size of an important trophic trait, lip size. We found that, while maximum lip size in the study population was smaller than in the species’ natural range, the proportions of algae, insects and fish remains in the diet covaried with lip size. However, contrary to predictions, we found no evidence for lip development to be plastic under laboratory conditions in relation to substrate complexity or food manipulation, nor did we find any relationship between lip morphology and feeding performance in adults. Single nucleotide polymorphism data, in turn, suggested that the introduced population has reduced standing genetic variation, which potentially influences both phenotypic plasticity and diversity, in comparison to native populations. Together, the results suggest that morphological variation in a key trophic trait can respond rapidly to diet in a novel environment, despite reduced genetic diversity in the population.
KW - Amphilophus cichlid
KW - Ecological specialisation
KW - Introduced species
KW - Phenotypic diversity
KW - Plasticity
KW - RAD tag sequencing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084229389&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10530-020-02264-y
DO - 10.1007/s10530-020-02264-y
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084229389
SN - 1387-3547
VL - 22
SP - 2447
EP - 2460
JO - Biological Invasions
JF - Biological Invasions
IS - 8
ER -