Predation affects body shape in the knife livebearer Alfaro cultratus (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae)

Abstract

Livebearing fishes are a common model for studying the effects of predation on prey biology. Numerous studies have found differences in life history, sexual selection, behavior, and morphology between populations of the same species that co‐occur with predators and those that do not. Alfaro cultratus is a livebearing fish with populations in different predation environments, but unlike other livebearers, this species also has an extreme body shape that is laterally compressed. Given this unusual morphology, we asked if predation environment would still predict overall body shape, as has been documented in other species. We collected specimens from both predator and no predator sites in Costa Rica and used a geometric morphometrics analysis to determine if body shape is affected by predation environment, while controlling for size and river gradient. Body shape does indeed differ between predation environments; however, the observed differences contrast with the patterns found in other livebearer systems. Alfaro cultratus in predation environments had deeper and shorter bodies and deeper caudal peduncles than those found in environments without dominant fish predators.