Parallel life history evolution in mouthbrooding cichlids from the African Great Lakes

Environments causing variation in age-specific mortality - ecological agents of selection - mediate the evolution of reproductive life-history traits. However, the relative magnitude of life-history divergence across selective agents, whether divergence in response to specific selective agents is consistent across taxa and whether it occurs as predicted by theory, remains largely unexplored. We evaluated divergence in offspring size, offspring number, and the trade-off between these traits using a meta-analysis in livebearing fishes (Poeciliidae). Life-history divergence was consistent and predictable to some (predation, hydrogen sulphide) but not all (density, food limitation, salinity) selective agents. In contrast, magnitudes of divergence among selective agents were similar. Finally, there was a negative, asymmetric relationship between offspring-number and offspring-size divergence, suggesting greater costs of increasing offspring size than number. Ultimately, these results provide strong evidence for predictable and consistent patterns of reproductive life-history divergence and highlight the importance of comparing phenotypic divergence across species and ecological selective agents.

show abstract

“…Duponchelle et al . ), even if the convergent traits are not the direct target of selection in all cases (e.g. Riesch et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The predictability and magnitude of life‐history divergence to ecological agents of selection: a meta‐analysis in livebearing fishes

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…2009a), behaviour (Blais et al. 2009), life histories (Duponchelle et al. 2008) and even in opsin amino acid sequences (Sugawara et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated mtDNA diversity in introduced populations of Cynotilapia afra (Günther 1894) in Lake Malawi National Park is evidence for multiple source populations and hybridization

et al. 2009

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Genetic variation in many invasive species shows little or no signs of a founder event, suggesting that high genetic diversity may facilitate establishment success. The rocky-shore, plankton-feeding cichlid fish Cynotilapia afra is endemic to Lake Malawi, but naturally absent from many suitable sites. In the 1960s, this species was introduced to the southern areas of the lake, presumably as a result of the aquarium fish trade. It has now become established on a number of rocky areas within the Lake Malawi National Park. Here, we analysed DNA sequence variation in the mitochondrial control region of six native and four introduced populations of C. afra, and three populations of the closely-related and hybridizing Pseudotropheus zebra. In contrast to previous studies of Lake Malawi rock dwelling cichlids, network analyses suggested that native populations of C. afra showed high levels of lineage sorting in mtDNA. Introduced populations showed higher sequence and haplotype diversity than their native counterparts. Our analyses suggested that the elevated gene diversity was largely attributed to the fact that the introduced C. afra populations were derived from several genetically distinct and geographically separate populations, and to a lesser extent because of introgressive hybridization with native P. zebra. The establishment and spread of C. afra may be partly because of its ability to occupy a vacant ecological niche, but it may also have been facilitated by its enhanced genetic diversity.

show abstract

“…For instance, more than a decade ago, researchers reported that replicated adaptive radiations of island lizards indicate that adaptive radiation follows deterministic paths resulting in convergent evolution 14 . Since then, subsequent studies using lizards or other animals have reinforced these results [15][16][17][18] . In addition to such animal studies, microcosm experiments have also pointed to similar conclusions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Clustering in community structure across replicate ecosystems following a long-term bacterial evolution experiment

Celiker

Gore

2014

Nat Commun

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Experiments to date probing adaptive evolution have predominantly focused on studying a single species or a pair of species in isolation. In nature, on the other hand, species evolve within complex communities, interacting and competing with many other species. It is unclear how reproducible or predictable adaptive evolution is within the context of a multispecies ecosystem. To explore this problem, we let 96 replicates of a multispecies laboratory bacterial ecosystem evolve in parallel for hundreds of generations. Here we find that relative abundances of individual species vary greatly across the evolved ecosystems and that the final profile of species frequencies within replicates clusters into several distinct types, as opposed to being randomly dispersed across the frequency space or converging fully. Our results suggest that community structure evolution has a tendency to follow one of only a few distinct paths.

show abstract

Parallel life history evolution in mouthbrooding cichlids from the African Great Lakes

Cited by 41 publications

References 69 publications

The predictability and magnitude of life‐history divergence to ecological agents of selection: a meta‐analysis in livebearing fishes

The predictability and magnitude of life‐history divergence to ecological agents of selection: a meta‐analysis in livebearing fishes

Elevated mtDNA diversity in introduced populations of Cynotilapia afra (Günther 1894) in Lake Malawi National Park is evidence for multiple source populations and hybridization

Clustering in community structure across replicate ecosystems following a long-term bacterial evolution experiment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About