Vertebral number covaries with body form and elevation along the western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes in the Neotropical fish genus<i>Rhoadsia</i>(Teleostei: Characidae)

Aguirre, Windsor E.; Young, Allan H.; Navarrete‐Amaya, Ronald; Valdiviezo‐Rivera, Jonathan; Prado, Pedro Jiménez; Cucalón, Roberto V.; Nugra-Salazar, Fredy; Calle-Delgado, Paola; Borders, T.; Shervette, Virginia R.

doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blz002

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…A plethora of studies have aimed to identify phenotypic correlates of swimming performance and the evolution of adaptations facilitating migratory behavior. Collectively, results point to important roles of morphological (e.g., body size, body shape, number of vertebrae, spool width, and size and shape of fins) and physiological traits that influence aspects of performance (e.g., swimming capacity, acceleration, endurance, and ability to sustain high water velocities), and of behavioral (boldness, and latency to pass obstacles) traits (Webb, 1975;Swain, 1992;McDowall et al, 1994;Fleming, 1996;McDowall, 2003;Crossin et al, 2004;Haugen et al, 2008;Long et al, 2011;Chapman et al, 2015;Podgorniak et al, 2016Podgorniak et al, , 2017Tibblin et al, 2016a;Forsman and Berggren, 2017;Hall, 2018;Aguirre et al, 2019). There is also potential for indirect evolutionary responses of phenotypic dimensions that are genetically or developmentally correlated with dispersal enhancing traits (see "Construction of Fishways").…”

Section: Phenotypic Correlates Of Migratory Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change and Management Actions for Migrating Fish

et al. 2019

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Migration strategies in fishes comprise a rich, ecologically important, and socioeconomically valuable example of biological diversity. The variation and flexibility in migration is evident between and within individuals, populations, and species, and thereby provides a useful model system that continues to inform how ecological and evolutionary processes mold biodiversity and how biological systems respond to environmental heterogeneity and change. Migrating fishes are targeted by commercial and recreational fishing and impact the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. Sadly, many species of migrating fish are under increasing threat by exploitation, pollution, habitat destruction, dispersal barriers, overfishing, and ongoing climate change that brings modified, novel, more variable and extreme conditions and selection regimes. All this calls for protection, sustainable utilization and adaptive management. However, the situation for migrating fishes is complicated further by actions aimed at mitigating the devastating effects of such threats. Changes in river connectivity associated with removal of dispersal barriers such as dams and construction of fishways, together with compensatory breeding, and supplemental stocking can impact on gene flow and selection. How this in turn affects the dynamics, genetic structure, genetic diversity, evolutionary potential, and viability of spawning migrating fish populations remains largely unknown. In this narrative review we describe and discuss patterns, causes, and consequences of variation and flexibility in fish migration that are scientifically interesting and concern key issues within the framework of evolution and maintenance of biological diversity. We showcase how the evolutionary solutions to key questions that define migrating fish-whether or not to migrate, why to migrate, where to migrate, and when to migrate-may depend on individual characteristics and ecological conditions. We explore links between environmental change and migration strategies, and discuss whether and how threats associated with overexploitation, environmental makeovers, and management actions may differently influence vulnerability of individuals, populations, and species depending on the variation and flexibility of their migration strategies. Our goal is to provide a broad overview of knowledge in this emerging area, spur future research, and development of informed management, and ultimately promote sustainable utilization and protection of migrating fish and their ecosystems.

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Section: Phenotypic Correlates Of Migratory Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change and Management Actions for Migrating Fish

et al. 2019

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“…We did not measure the number of skeletal elements, but assuming body shape and fin area are related to the number of vertebrae and fin rays, respectively, it seems likely that a slenderer body shape and a larger fin area would indicate a larger number of vertebrae and fin rays (cf. Aguirre et al 2019;Corral and Aguirre 2019), but this remains to be examined in the present case.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…These landmarks encompassed the different regions of the body, namely the head region, the anterior midregion, the posterior mid-region, and the caudal region. In addition, the maximum body depth and standard length were measured from the photographs to be able to compute the fineness ratio (standard length/body depth), a common measure of elongation relative to a fish's transverse sectional diameter, with larger values indicative of a more streamlined body shape (Aguirre et al 2019).…”

Section: Body Shape and Fin Measurements And Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the mid-1900s, it has been well documented for fishes and other ectotherms that temperature conditions during embryogenesis not only influence the number of vertebrae but also other skeletal features, such as the number of fin rays of teleost fishes (Tåning 1952;Billerbeck et al 1997 ; McBride and Horodysky 2004). Recent studies have also linked the number of vertebrae and body shape, where more vertebrae tend to be associated with an elongated body shape (Aguirre et al 2019;Corral and Aguirre 2019). Moreover, there is an association between early rearing temperature and body shape.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Body shape and fin size in juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): effects of temperature during embryogenesis

et al. 2021

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Temperature during egg incubation and early development influences later life stages of fishes, potentially influencing survival. Throughout its distribution, Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar Linnaeus, 1758) have experienced population declines, and in view of ongoing global warming, we tested if temperature during the earliest developmental stages modified body shape and fin size when temperatures averaged 2.6 vs. 5.6 °C. This temperature difference simulates increases predicted in climate change scenarios. Based on previous studies, we hypothesized that salmon originating from eggs subjected to cold incubation temperatures would have slimmer bodies and larger pectoral and dorsal fins than salmon from eggs that experienced warmer temperatures. After hatching, the juveniles were raised for 1 year under identical temperatures, after which we measured their body shape and fin areas. We found no support for our hypothesis regarding body shape. Indeed, we found the opposite, with cold-incubated salmon having deeper bodies than warm-incubated salmon. For fin size, the pectoral fins of cold-incubated salmon were larger than for warm-incubated salmon as predicted, but there was no difference in dorsal fin size. These results suggest that global warming may lead to altered body shape and fin size, possibly affecting swimming performance, and thus raise questions about the ecological consequences of the changes.

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“…Increases in body elongation are strongly correlated with increases in vertebral number [36,91]. Although at microevolutionary scales, difference in vertebral length or factors impacting growth along the body depth axis independent of the body length axis may also have a strong influence, associations between body shape and vertebral number are increasingly being reported [17,27,29,92]. Moreover, there often appears to be body region specificity in the pattern of vertebral-body form covariation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of temperature and water turbulence on vertebral number and body shape in Astyanax mexicanus (Teleostei: Characidae)

Corral

Aguirre

2019

PLoS ONE

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Environmental changes can modify the phenotypic characteristics of populations, which in turn can influence their evolutionary trajectories. In ectotherms like fishes, temperature is a particularly important environmental variable that is known to have significant impacts on the phenotype. Here, we raised specimens of the surface ecomorph of Astyanax mexicanus at temperatures of 20°C, 23°C, 25°C, and 28°C to examine how temperature influenced vertebral number and body shape. To increase biological realism, specimens were also subjected to two water turbulence regimes. Vertebral number was counted from x-rays and body shape variation was analysed using geometric morphometric methods. Temperature significantly impacted mean total vertebral number, which increased at the lowest and highest temperatures. Fish reared at lower temperatures had relatively more precaudal vertebrae while fish reared at higher temperatures had relatively more caudal vertebrae. Vertebral anomalies, especially vertebral fusions, were most frequent at the extreme temperature treatments. Temperature significantly impacted body shape as well, with fish reared at 20°C being particularly divergent. Water turbulence also impacted body shape in a generally predictable manner, with specimens reared in high turbulence environments being more streamlined and having extended dorsal and anal fin bases. Variation in environmental variables thus resulted in significant changes in morphological traits known to impact fish fitness, indicating that A . mexicanus has the capacity to exhibit a range of phenotypic plasticity when challenged by environmental change. Understanding the biochemical mechanisms underlying this plasticity and whether adaptive plasticity has influenced the evolutionary radiation of the Characidae, are major directions for future research.

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Vertebral number covaries with body form and elevation along the western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes in the Neotropical fish genusRhoadsia(Teleostei: Characidae)

Cited by 9 publications

References 68 publications

Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change and Management Actions for Migrating Fish

Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change and Management Actions for Migrating Fish

Body shape and fin size in juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): effects of temperature during embryogenesis

Effects of temperature and water turbulence on vertebral number and body shape in Astyanax mexicanus (Teleostei: Characidae)

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