Evol Ecol Res 7: 1109-1123 (2005)     Full PDF if your library subscribes.

Habitat structure, feeding mode and morphological reversibility: factors influencing phenotypic plasticity in perch

J. Olsson* and P. Eklöv

Limnology/Department of Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 20, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden

Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.
e-mail: jens.olsson@ebc.uu.se

ABSTRACT

Questions: Do both habitat structure and feeding mode contribute to morphological divergence within fish populations? To what extent may an induced morphology be reversed?

Organism: Young-of-the-year Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis L.).

Methods: An aquarium experiment with a 2 × 2 factorial design (two levels of habitat structure and two levels of feeding mode). The habitat structure and feeding mode were reversed for perch in two habitat treatments midway through the experiment.

Results: Both habitat structure and feeding mode contributed to morphological divergence (40.7% and 4.9% of the total variation respectively), which suggests that both habitat complexity and prey type diversity influence morphological adaptations in this fish species. Perch morphology is highly plastic and can be reversed in as short a time as 4 weeks.

Keywords: feeding mode, geometric morphometrics, habitat structure, morphological reversibility, phenotypic plasticity, trophic polymorphism.

DOWNLOAD A FREE, FULL PDF COPY
IF you are connected using the IP of a subscribing institution (library, laboratory, etc.)
or through its VPN.

 

        © 2005 Jens Olsson. All EER articles are copyrighted by their authors. All authors endorse, permit and license Evolutionary Ecology Ltd. to grant its subscribing institutions/libraries the copying privileges specified below without additional consideration or payment to them or to Evolutionary Ecology, Ltd. These endorsements, in writing, are on file in the office of Evolutionary Ecology, Ltd. Consult authors for permission to use any portion of their work in derivative works, compilations or to distribute their work in any commercial manner.

       Subscribing institutions/libraries may grant individuals the privilege of making a single copy of an EER article for non-commercial educational or non-commercial research purposes. Subscribing institutions/libraries may also use articles for non-commercial educational purposes by making any number of copies for course packs or course reserve collections. Subscribing institutions/libraries may also loan single copies of articles to non-commercial libraries for educational purposes.

       All copies of abstracts and articles must preserve their copyright notice without modification.