scholarly journals Community assembly in Lake Tanganyika cichlid fish: quantifying the contributions of both niche-based and neutral processes

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1057-1067 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thijs Janzen ◽  
Adriana Alzate ◽  
Moritz Muschick ◽  
Martine E. Maan ◽  
Fons van der Plas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Assembly ◽  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Neutral Processes

scholarly journals Stochastic processes dominate community assembly in cichlid communities in Lake Tanganyika

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thijs Janzen ◽  
Adriana Alzate ◽  
Moritz Muschick ◽  
Fons van der Plas ◽  
Rampal S. Etienne
Keyword(s):  
Stochastic Processes ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
African Great Lakes ◽  
Community Dissimilarity

ABSTRACTThe African Great Lakes are characterized by an extraordinary diversity of endemic cichlid fish species. The cause of this diversity is still largely unknown. Most studies have tried to solve this question by focusing on macro-evolutionary processes, such as speciation. However, the ecological processes determining local cichlid diversity have so far been understudied, even though knowledge on these might be crucial for understanding larger scale biodiversity patterns.Using trait, environmental and abundance data of cichlid fishes along 36 transects, we have studied how differences in local environmental conditions influence cichlid community assembly in the littoral of Lake Tanganyika, Zambia. We investigated changes in average trait values and in trait-based community assembly processes along three key environmental gradients.Species diversity and local abundance decreased with increasing sand cover and diet-associated traits changed with depth. Analyses on within-community trait diversity patterns indicated that cichlid community assembly was mainly driven by stochastic processes, to a smaller extent by processes that limit the similarity among co-existing species and least by filtering processes that limit the range of species traits occurring in an environment. Despite, the low impact of habitat filtering processes, we find community dissimilarity to increase with increasing environmental difference.Our results suggest that local environmental conditions determine cichlid abundance, while the predominance of stochastic community assembly across all environments explains why the communities with the highest abundances contain most species.

scholarly journals Sexual dimorphism and population divergence in the Lake Tanganyika cichlid fish genus Tropheus

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juergen Herler ◽  
Michaela Kerschbaumer ◽  
Philipp Mitteroecker ◽  
Lisbeth Postl ◽  
Christian Sturmbauer
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Population Divergence

scholarly journals The Adaptive Radiation of Cichlid Fish in Lake Tanganyika: A Morphological Perspective

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetsumi Takahashi ◽  
Stephan Koblmüller
Keyword(s):  
East Africa ◽  
Adaptive Radiation ◽  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Ancient Lakes ◽  
Species Assemblage ◽  
Cichlid Species ◽  
Morphological Studies ◽  
Rapid Speciation ◽  
Explosive Speciation

Lake Tanganyika is the oldest of the Great Ancient Lakes in the East Africa. This lake harbours about 250 species of cichlid fish, which are highly diverse in terms of morphology, behaviour, and ecology. Lake Tanganyika's cichlid diversity has evolved through explosive speciation and is treated as a textbook example of adaptive radiation, the rapid differentiation of a single ancestor into an array of species that differ in traits used to exploit their environments and resources. To elucidate the processes and mechanisms underlying the rapid speciation and adaptive radiation of Lake Tanganyika's cichlid species assemblage it is important to integrate evidence from several lines of research. Great efforts have been, are, and certainly will be taken to solve the mystery of how so many cichlid species evolved in so little time. In the present review, we summarize morphological studies that relate to the adaptive radiation of Lake Tanganyika's cichlids and highlight their importance for understanding the process of adaptive radiation.

scholarly journals Colour-assortative mating among populations of Tropheus moorii , a cichlid fish from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa

2005 ◽  
Vol 273 (1584) ◽  
pp. 257-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Salzburger ◽  
Harald Niederstätter ◽  
Anita Brandstätter ◽  
Burkhard Berger ◽  
Walther Parson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
East Africa ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Cichlid Fish

Differential attack by a cichlid fish on resident and non-resident fish of another cichlid species

Behaviour ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 149 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Awata ◽  
Masanori Kohda ◽  
Haruki Ochi
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Previous Experience ◽  
Alternative Mechanism ◽  
Differential Attack ◽  
Dear Enemy ◽  
Resident Fish ◽  
Cichlid Species ◽  
Dear Enemy Effect

AbstractAn algivorous cichlid, Variabilichromis moorii( Vm), defends permanent territories in Lake Tanganyika, Africa. A zoobenthivorous cichlid, Neolamprologus mustax( Nm), spends 60% of daylight hours foraging in Vmterritories, from which other zoobenthivorous fishes are chased out and consequently which are much richer in prey animals than areas outside of Vmterritories. We conducted a field experiment to examine whether Nmresidents and non-residents received different degrees of attacks from Vm. Nmfish were caught in their territories, released at a point distant from these territories, and followed to observe interactions with Vmfish. The frequency of attacks received by the displaced Nmfish was greater than attacks received by Nmresidents, indicating that Nmresidents had easier access to Vmterritories than non-residents did. A possible mechanism for this is reduced aggression of Vmtowards Nmresidents, as a result of the ‘dear enemy’ effect that has been reported in territorial contests between rivals. An alternative mechanism is that tolerance towards Nmdiffers among Vmfish and Nmresidents selectively visit more tolerant Vmfish due to previous experience while non-residents randomly approach both tolerant and hostile Vmfish. The ability of Vmto discriminate between Nmresidents and non-residents is essential to the former mechanism but not to the latter. To more specifically examine which mechanism works in the Vm– Nmcommensal system, we will need to follow individually identified Vmfish interacting with Nmresidents and non-residents.

Genetic basis of male colour dimorphism in a Lake Tanganyika cichlid fish

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 3049-3060 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Takahashi ◽  
T. Sota ◽  
M. Hori
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Colour Dimorphism
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