scholarly journals Early learning influences species assortative mating preferences in Lake Victoria cichlid fish

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Machteld N Verzijden ◽  
Carel ten Cate
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Species Flock ◽  
Mating Preferences ◽  
Sexual Imprinting ◽  
Cichlid Species ◽  
Young Females ◽  
Genetic Mechanisms

The Lake Victoria ‘species flock’ of cichlids is puzzling because reproductive isolation often occurs in the absence of substantial ecological differences among species. Theory predicts that this cannot evolve with most genetic mechanisms for mate choice. We provide the first evidence that learning, in the form of sexual imprinting, helps maintain reproductive isolation among closely related cichlid species. Using a cross-fostering experiment, we show that young females develop a sexual preference for males of their foster mothers' species, even reversing species assortative mating preferences. We suggest that learning creates favourable conditions for reproductive isolation to evolve.

scholarly journals Developmental effects of visual environment on species-assortative mating preferences in Lake Victoria cichlid fish

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. S. Wright ◽  
N. Demandt ◽  
J. T. Alkema ◽  
O. Seehausen ◽  
T. G. G. Groothuis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Visual Environment ◽  
Mating Preferences ◽  
Developmental Effects

scholarly journals Visual adaptation and microhabitat choice in Lake Victoria cichlid fish

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 181876
Author(s):  
Daniel Mameri ◽  
Corina van Kammen ◽  
Ton G. G. Groothuis ◽  
Ole Seehausen ◽  
Martine E. Maan
Keyword(s):  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Visual Sensitivity ◽  
Visual Adaptation ◽  
Repeated Testing ◽  
Cichlid Species ◽  
Habitat Matching

When different genotypes choose different habitats to better match their phenotypes, genetic differentiation within a population may be promoted. Mating within those habitats may subsequently contribute to reproductive isolation. In cichlid fish, visual adaptation to alternative visual environments is hypothesized to contribute to speciation. Here, we investigated whether variation in visual sensitivity causes different visual habitat preferences, using two closely related cichlid species that occur at different but overlapping water depths in Lake Victoria and that differ in visual perception ( Pundamilia spp.). In addition to species differences, we explored potential effects of visual plasticity, by rearing fish in two different light conditions: broad-spectrum (mimicking shallow water) and red-shifted (mimicking deeper waters). Contrary to expectations, fish did not prefer the light environment that mimicked their typical natural habitat. Instead, we found an overall preference for the broad-spectrum environment. We also found a transient influence of the rearing condition, indicating that the assessment of microhabitat preference requires repeated testing to control for familiarity effects. Together, our results show that cichlid fish exert visual habitat preference but do not support straightforward visual habitat matching.

scholarly journals Nuclear markers reveal unexpected genetic variation and a Congolese-Nilotic origin of the Lake Victoria cichlid species flock

2003 ◽  
Vol 270 (1511) ◽  
pp. 129-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Seehausen ◽  
Egbert Koetsier ◽  
Maria Victoria Schneider ◽  
Lauren J. Chapman ◽  
Colin A. Chapman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Species Flock ◽  
Nuclear Markers ◽  
Cichlid Species

scholarly journals Back to Tanganyika: a case of recent trans-species-flock dispersal in East African haplochromine cichlid fishes

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 140498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britta S. Meyer ◽  
Adrian Indermaur ◽  
Xenia Ehrensperger ◽  
Bernd Egger ◽  
Gaspard Banyankimbona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Species Flock ◽  
East African ◽  
Cichlid Species ◽  
African Great Lakes ◽  
Cichlid Fishes ◽  
Haplochromine Cichlid ◽  
Lake Victoria Region ◽  
Adaptive Radiations

The species flocks of cichlid fishes in the East African Great Lakes are the largest vertebrate adaptive radiations in the world and illustrious textbook examples of convergent evolution between independent species assemblages. Although recent studies suggest some degrees of genetic exchange between riverine taxa and the lake faunas, not a single cichlid species is known from Lakes Tanganyika, Malawi and Victoria that is derived from the radiation associated with another of these lakes. Here, we report the discovery of a haplochromine cichlid species in Lake Tanganyika, which belongs genetically to the species flock of haplochromines of the Lake Victoria region. The new species colonized Lake Tanganyika only recently, suggesting that faunal exchange across watersheds and, hence, between isolated ichthyofaunas, is more common than previously thought.

scholarly journals Ancestral Hybridization Facilitated Species Diversification in the Lake Malawi Cichlid Fish Adaptive Radiation

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 1100-1113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Svardal ◽  
Fu Xiang Quah ◽  
Milan Malinsky ◽  
Benjamin P Ngatunga ◽  
Eric A Miska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Radiation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Lake Malawi ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Founder Population ◽  
East African ◽  
Cichlid Species ◽  
Show Evidence

Abstract The adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes in East African Lake Malawi encompasses over 500 species that are believed to have evolved within the last 800,000 years from a common founder population. It has been proposed that hybridization between ancestral lineages can provide the genetic raw material to fuel such exceptionally high diversification rates, and evidence for this has recently been presented for the Lake Victoria region cichlid superflock. Here, we report that Lake Malawi cichlid genomes also show evidence of hybridization between two lineages that split 3–4 Ma, today represented by Lake Victoria cichlids and the riverine Astatotilapia sp. “ruaha blue.” The two ancestries in Malawi cichlid genomes are present in large blocks of several kilobases, but there is little variation in this pattern between Malawi cichlid species, suggesting that the large-scale mosaic structure of the genomes was largely established prior to the radiation. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of polymorphic variants apparently derived from the hybridization are interspersed in the genomes. These loci show a striking excess of differentiation across ecological subgroups in the Lake Malawi cichlid assemblage, and parental alleles sort differentially into benthic and pelagic Malawi cichlid lineages, consistent with strong differential selection on these loci during species divergence. Furthermore, these loci are enriched for genes involved in immune response and vision, including opsin genes previously identified as important for speciation. Our results reinforce the role of ancestral hybridization in explosive diversification by demonstrating its significance in one of the largest recent vertebrate adaptive radiations.

scholarly journals Phylogeny of the Lake Tanganyika Cichlid Species Flock and Its Relationship to the Central and East African Haplochromine Cichlid Fish Faunas

2002 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Salzburger ◽  
Axel Meyer ◽  
Sanja Baric ◽  
Erik Verheyen ◽  
Christian Sturmbauer
Keyword(s):  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Species Flock ◽  
East African ◽  
Cichlid Species ◽  
Haplochromine Cichlid

scholarly journals Community Genetics Reveal Elevated Levels of Sympatric Gene Flow among Morphologically Similar but Not among Morphologically Dissimilar Species of Lake Victoria Cichlid Fish

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Konijnendijk ◽  
D. A. Joyce ◽  
H. D. J. Mrosso ◽  
M. Egas ◽  
O. Seehausen
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Mechanistic Explanation ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Community Genetics ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Haplochromine Cichlids ◽  
Island Communities

We examined genetic structure among five species of Lake Victoria haplochromine cichlids in four island communities, using a full factorial sampling design that compared genetic differentiation between pairs of species and populations of varying morphological similarity and geographical proximity. We found that allopatric conspecific populations were on average significantly more strongly differentiated than sympatric heterospecific populations of morphologically similar species. Allopatric heterospecific populations of morphologically dissimilar species were most differentiated. Our work demonstrates that phenotypic divergence can be maintained and perhaps even evolve in sympatry despite considerable gene flow between species. Conversely, phenotypic resemblance among conspecific populations can be maintained despite geographical isolation. Additionally we show that anthropogenically increased hybridization does not affect all sympatric species evenly but predominantly affects morphologically similar and closely related species. This has important implications for the evolution of reproductive isolation between species These findings are also consistent with the hypothesis of speciation reversal due to weakening of divergent selection and reproductive isolation as a consequence of habitat homogenization and offers an evolutionary mechanistic explanation for the observation that species poor assemblages in turbid areas of the lake are characterized by just one or two species in each of a few morphologically distinct genera.

scholarly journals Ancestral hybridisation facilitated species diversification in the Lake Malawi cichlid fish adaptive radiation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Svardal ◽  
Fu Xiang Quah ◽  
Milan Malinsky ◽  
Benjamin P Ngatunga ◽  
Eric A Miska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Radiation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Lake Malawi ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Founder Population ◽  
Cichlid Species ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Adaptive Radiations

AbstractThe adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes in East Afrian Lake Malawi encompasses over 500 species that are believed to have evolved within the last 800 thousand years from a common founder population. It has been proposed that hybridisation between ancestral lineages can provide the genetic raw material to fuel such exceptionally high diversification rates, and evidence for this has recently been presented for the Lake Victoria Region cichlid superflock. Here we report that Lake Malawi cichlid genomes also show evidence of hybridisation between two lineages that split 3-4 million years ago, today represented by Lake Victoria cichlids and the riverine Astatotilapia sp. ‘ruaha blue’. The two ancestries in Malawi cichlid genomes are present in large blocks of several kilobases, but there is little variation in this pattern between Malawi cichlid species, suggesting that the large-scale mosaic structure of the genomes was largely established prior to the radiation. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of polymorphic variants apparently derived from the hybridisation are interspersed in the genomes. These loci show a striking excess of differentiation across ecological subgroups in the Lake Malawi cichlid assemblage, and parental alleles sort differentially into benthic and pelagic Malawi cichlid lineages, consistent with strong differential selection on these loci during species divergence. Furthermore, these loci are enriched for genes involved in immune response and vision, including opsin genes previously identified as important for speciation. Our results reinforce the role of ancestral hybridisation in explosive diversification by demonstrating its significance in one of the largest recent vertebrate adaptive radiations.

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