Morphological and functional trait divergence in endemic fish populations along the small-scale karstic stream

Organisms with broad distribution ranges, such as fish, often exhibit local ecological specializations based on their utilization of food and habitat. Populations of species that live in different habitat types (lotic vs. lentic) show morphological variations. However, the phenotypic differences of endemic fish populations in a small karst river basin under anthropogenic pressure are still not fully understood. In this study, the functional traits and morphological variations of the populations of endemic Pseudophoxinus antalyae Bogutskaya, 1992, in the Düden Stream basin, which is subjected to various anthropogenic disturbances and habitat types in southwestern Anatolia of Türkiye, were examined using linear measurements and geometric morphometric analysis.

Differences have been identified in functional traits, particularly those related to food acquisition between populations. Results of both univariate and multivariate analyses revealed significant differences in body shape and size among populations living at sites along the stream with different habitat and environmental characteristics.

The reason for these differences determined in the morphology and traits of the populations may depend on habitat types, ecological, or environmental, and obstruction of gene flow. More detailed studies are needed to explain the mechanisms (genetic and ecological) that cause these differences.