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Sympatric ecological divergence associated with a color polymorphism.
Henrik Kusche1,2,3, Kathryn R Elmer4,5, Axel Meyer6,7
1Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457, Konstanz, Germany. henrik.kusche@gmail.com.
BMC Biology
|October 7, 2015
Summary
Color polymorphism in Midas cichlids drives ecological divergence, showing consistent patterns across populations. This suggests a genetic link between color and traits, potentially promoting speciation but currently maintaining polymorphism.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Ecology
- Genetics
Background:
- Color polymorphism is a key trait for studying ecological and evolutionary diversification.
- Understanding color polymorphism is often hindered by factors like sex-linkage and unknown inheritance.
- Midas cichlids (Amphilophus citrinellus species complex) offer a unique system to study color polymorphism due to repeated adaptive radiations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the ecological and evolutionary consequences of color polymorphism in Midas cichlids.
- To determine if color polymorphism influences intraspecific ecological differentiation.
- To assess the potential for color polymorphism to drive speciation.
Main Methods:
- Multi-trait morphological and ecological analyses across ten populations of Midas cichlids.
- Comparative analysis of sympatric gold and dark color morphs.
- Common garden experiment to assess genetic correlations between color and eco-morphological traits.
Main Results:
- Sympatric ecological differentiation was observed, associated with the gold/dark color polymorphism.
- Gold Midas cichlids exhibited deeper bodies, robust jaws, and fed at lower trophic levels than dark morphs.
- A genetic correlation between color and eco-morphological traits was suggested by the common garden experiment.
Conclusions:
- Color polymorphism has significant ecological and evolutionary consequences in Midas cichlid adaptive radiations.
- Consistent divergence patterns across populations suggest a genetic basis for color-driven eco-morphological differences.
- While color polymorphism shows potential for speciation, it currently appears to promote long-term maintenance of polymorphism within the species complex.
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