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Evolutionary biology has long striven to understand why some lineages diversify exceptionally while others do not. Most studies have focused on how extrinsic factors can promote differences in diversification dynamics, but a clade’s intrinsic modularity and integration can also catalyze or restrict its evolution. Here, we integrate geometric morphometrics, phylogenetic comparative methods and visualizations of covariance to infer the presence of distinct modules in the body plan of Characiformes, an ecomorphologically diverse fish radiation. Strong covariances reveal a cranial module, and more subtle patterns support a statistically significant subdivision of the postcranium into anterior (precaudal) and posterior (caudal) modules. We uncover substantial covariation among cranial and postcranial landmarks, indicating body-wide evolutionary integration as lineages transition between compressiform and fusiform body shapes. A novel method of matrix subdivision reveals that within- and among-module covariation contributes substantially to the overall eigenstructure of characiform morphospace, and that both phenomena led to biologically important divergence among characiform lineages. Functional integration between the cranium and post-cranial skeleton appears to have allowed lineages to optimize the aspect ratio of their bodies for locomotion, while the capacity for independent change in the head, body and tail likely eased adaptation to diverse dietary and hydrological regimes. These results reinforce a growing consensus that modularity and integration synergize to promote diversification.

Convergent evolution is often interpreted as evidence of natural selection favoring an optimal phenotype during adaptation. Morphological convergence is frequently found among lineages that converge on diet, but most studies have focused on morphological traits that relate exclusively to food handling and processing. In vertebrates, there is a strong inverse relationship between intestine length and trophic level. However, little is known about whether adaptation to a low trophic level influences the evolution of abdominal cavities that can accommodate larger intestines. Here, I reconstruct the evolutionary history of trophic ecology and examine abdominal cavity shape across 157 species of the fish order Characiformes to determine whether adaptation to an herbivorous-detritivorous diet drives convergent evolution of large abdominal cavities. Herbivorous-detritivorous species evolved significantly larger abdominal cavities than other trophic groups and repeatedly converged on a similar abdominal cavity morphology. Other trophic groups evolved abdominal cavity morphologies either stochastically or by selective pressures from an untested ecological character. These findings demonstrate that the selective demands of a larger intestinal tract promote the repeated convergence of a large abdominal cavity within herbivorous-detritivorous characiform fishes, while allowing other lineages to evolve randomly or adapt in response to other selection pressures, contributing to the overall body shape diversity of the order.

Evolutionary transitions between marine and freshwater ecosystems have occurred repeatedly throughout the phylogenetic history of fishes. The theory of ecological opportunity predicts that lineages that colonize species-poor regions will have greater potential for phenotypic diversification than lineages invading species-rich regions. Thus, transitions between marine and freshwaters may promote phenotypic diversification in trans-marine/freshwater fish clades. We used phylogenetic comparative methods to analyze body size data in nine major fish clades that have crossed the marine/freshwater boundary. We explored how habitat transitions, ecological opportunity, and community interactions influenced patterns of phenotypic diversity. Our analyses indicated that transitions between marine and freshwater habitats did not drive body size evolution, and there are few differences in body size between marine and freshwater lineages. We found that body size disparity in freshwater lineages is not correlated with the number of independent transitions to freshwaters. We found a positive correlation between body size disparity and overall species richness of a given area, and a negative correlation between body size disparity and diversity of closely related species. Our results indicate that the diversity of incumbent freshwater species does not restrict phenotypic diversification, but the diversity of closely related taxa can limit body size diversification. Ecological opportunity arising from colonization of novel habitats does not seem to have a major effect in the trajectory of body size evolution in trans-marine/freshwater clades. Moreover, competition with closely related taxa in freshwaters has a greater effect than competition with distantly related incumbent species.

Habitat occupancy can have a profound influence on macroevolutionary dynamics, and a switch in major habitat type may alter the evolutionary trajectory of a lineage. In this study, we investigate how evolutionary transitions between marine and freshwater habitats affect macroevolutionary adaptive landscapes, using needlefishes (Belonidae) as a model system. We examined the evolution of body shape and size in marine and freshwater needlefishes and tested for phenotypic change in response to transitions between habitats. Using micro‐computed tomographic (µCT) scanning and geometric morphometrics, we quantified body shape, size, and vertebral counts of 31 belonid species. We then examined the pattern and tempo of body shape and size evolution using phylogenetic comparative methods. Our results show that transitions from marine to freshwater habitats have altered the adaptive landscape for needlefishes and expanded morphospace relative to marine taxa. We provide further evidence that freshwater taxa attain reduced sizes either through dwarfism (as inferred from axial skeletal reduction) or through developmental truncation (as inferred from axial skeletal loss). We propose that transitions to freshwater habitats produce morphological novelty in response to novel prey resources and changes in locomotor demands. We find that repeated invasions of different habitats have prompted predictable changes in morphology., Can we predict whether fishes will get larger or smaller body shape and size in saltwater or freshwater? We found that when needlefishes (Belonidae) evolve in freshwater habitats, they always get smaller in size. These changes are predictable, and we show that the manner of selection for body size and shape is fundamentally different among marine and freshwater habitats.

For generations, organismal biologists have learned their craft in hands-on laboratories that teach anatomy, evolution, natural history, systematics, and functional morphology through specimen collection, observation, comparison, and manipulation. Though these activities teach the comparative method that lies at the heart of our discipline, students without access to specimen collections have been excluded from this foundational experience. To fill that gap, we developed a virtual collection of photographs and 3D specimen models and designed entirely online versions of courses in ichthyology and systematics of fishes. The virtualization allows students to illustrate and compare specimens in online labs, identify species from different habitats using dichotomous keys, contextualize the relationships of species, recognize synapomorphies using a phylogeny, take online specimen-based practical exams, and help each other recognize adaptations and diagnostic features on threaded discussion boards. The classes built around the collection educate and provide university credit to students lacking access to similar courses, and their infrastructure allowed face-to-face instruction to shift online rapidly after 2020's novel coronavirus shut down our brick-and-mortar campus. While we may never be able to replicate the aroma of oil-laden alcohol online, specimen virtualization opens access to experiential learning to an underserved and widespread audience;allows new generations of students to develop crucial skills in observation, comparison, and inference;and affords substantial instructional resiliency when unexpected challenges arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Ichthyology & Herpetology is the property of American Society of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The characiform fishes of the Neotropics and Africa radiated remarkably in ecomorphology, but the macroevolutionary processes responsible for their biodiversity remain unexplored, and the degree to which their continental diversification parallels classic adaptive radiations remains untested. We reconstruct their diversification using a new fossil-calibrated molecular phylogeny, dietary information, and geometric morphometrics. Though body shape diversified early in a manner consistent with an ancient continental adaptive radiation, trophic shifts did not always coincide with shape changes. With the notable exception of piscivores, lineages that converged in diet did not converge closely in body shape. Shifts in habitat or other variables likely influenced body shape evolution in addition to changes in diet, and the clade's history departs from many classic adaptive radiations in lakes or on islands, in which trophic convergence drives morphological convergence. The contrast between the Neotropical radiation's exhaustive exploration of morphospace and the more restrained diversification in Africa suggests a major role for contingency in characiform evolution, with the presence of cypriniform competitors in the Old World, but not the New, providing one possible explanation. Our results depict the clearest ecomorphological reconstruction to date for Characiformes and set the stage for studies further elucidating the processes underlying its diversification.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-05-01T09:47:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-01-01 The Neotropics harbor the most species-rich freshwater fish fauna on the planet, but the timing of that exceptional diversification remains unclear. Did the Neotropics accumulate species steadily throughout their long history, or attain their remarkable diversity recently? Biologists have long debated the relative support for these museum and cradle hypotheses, but few phylogenies of megadiverse tropical clades have included sufficient taxa to distinguish between them. We used 1288 ultraconserved element loci spanning 293 species, 211 genera, and 21 families of characoid fishes to reconstruct a new, fossil-calibrated phylogeny and infer the most likely diversification scenario for a clade that includes a third of Neotropical fish diversity. This phylogeny implies paraphyly of the traditional delimitation of Characiformes because it resolves the largely Neotropical Characoidei as the sister lineage of Siluriformes (catfishes), rather than the African Citharinodei. Time-calibrated phylogenies indicate an ancient origin of major characoid lineages and reveal a much more recent emergence of most characoid species. Diversification rate analyses infer increased speciation and decreased extinction rates during the Oligocene at around 30 Ma during a period of mega-wetland formation in the proto-Orinoco-Amazonas. Three species-rich and ecomorphologically diverse lineages (Anostomidae, Serrasalmidae, and Characidae) that originated more than 60 Ma in the Paleocene experienced particularly notable bursts of Oligocene diversification and now account collectively for 68% of the approximately 2150 species of Characoidei. In addition to paleogeographic changes, we discuss potential accelerants of diversification in these three lineages. While the Neotropics accumulated a museum of ecomorphologically diverse characoid lineages long ago, this geologically dynamic region also cradled a much more recent birth of remarkable species-level diversity. [Biodiversity; Characiformes; macroevolution; Neotropics; phylogenomics; ultraconserved elements.] Department of Structural and Functional Biology Institute of Biosciences São Paulo State University Department of Fisheries Wildlife and Conservation Sciences Oregon State University Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Yale University Sector of Zoology Institute of Biosciences São Paulo State University Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Valle del Cauca Department of Ichthyology American Museum of Natural History Instituto de Biologiìa Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico School of Biological Sciences Monash University Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural Science Louisiana State University Cornell Lab of Ornithology Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates Department de Biología Facultad de Ciencias Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras Universidade de São Paulo SP Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Department of Structural and Functional Biology Institute of Biosciences São Paulo State University Sector of Zoology Institute of Biosciences São Paulo State University

Marine intertidal zones can be harsher and more dynamic than bordering subtidal zones, with extreme and temporally variable turbulence, water velocity, salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen levels. Contrasting environmental conditions and ecological opportunities in subtidal versus intertidal habitats may generate differing patterns of morphological diversity. In this study we used phylogenetic comparative methods, measurements of body length, and two-dimensional landmarks to characterize body shape and size diversity in combtooth blennies (Ovalentaria: Blenniidae) and test for differences in morphological diversity between intertidal, subtidal, and supralittoral zones. We found that subtidal combtooth blennies have significantly higher body shape disparity and occupy a region of morphospace three times larger than intertidal lineages. The intertidal morphospace was almost entirely contained within the subtidal morphospace, showing that intertidal combtooth blennies did not evolve unique body shapes. We found no significant differences in body size disparity between tidal zones, no correlations between body shape and tidal zone or body size and tidal zone, and no body shape convergence associated with tidal zone. Our findings suggest that a subset of combtooth blenny body shapes are suitable for life in both subtidal and intertidal habitats. Many species in regions of morphospace unique to subtidal combtooth blennies exhibit distinct microhabitat use, which suggests subtidal environments promoted morphological diversification via evolutionary microhabitat transitions. In contrast, limited intertidal body shape diversity may be due to strong selective pressures that constrained body shape evolution and environmental filtering that prevented colonization of intertidal zones by certain subtidal body shapes.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-10T19:54:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-03-01 NSF Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Target enrichment of conserved nuclear loci has helped reconstruct evolutionary relationships among a wide variety of species. While there are preexisting bait sets to enrich a few hundred loci across all fishes or a thousand loci from acanthomorph fishes, no bait set exists to enrich large numbers (>1,000 loci) of ultraconserved nuclear loci from ostariophysans, the second largest actinopterygian superorder. In this study, we describe how we designed a bait set to enrich 2,708 ultracon served nuclear loci from ostariophysan fishes by combining an existing genome assembly with low coverage sequence data collected from two ostariophysan lineages. We perform a series of enrichment experiments using this bait set across the ostariophysan tree of life, from the deepest splits among the major groups (> 150 Ma) to more recent divergence events that have occurred during the last 50 million years. Our results demonstrate that the bait set we designed is useful for addressing phylogenetic questions from the origin of crown ostariophysans to more recent divergence events, and our in silico results suggest that this bait set may be useful for addressing evolutionary questions in closely related groups of fishes, like Clupeiformes. Louisiana State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA Louisiana State Univ, Museum Nat Sci, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA Univ Tennessee, Dept Biol Geol & Environm Sci, Chattanooga, TN 37403 USA Oregon State Univ, Dept Fisheries & Wildlife, Corvallis, OR 97331 USA Cornell Univ, Cornell Lab Ornithol, Museum Vertebrates, Ithaca, NY 14850 USA Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Dept Morfol, BR-18618689 Botucatu, SP, Brazil Univ Louisiana Lafayette, Dept Biol, Lafayette, LA 70503 USA Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Dept Zool, Botucatu, SP, Brazil Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Dept Morfol, BR-18618689 Botucatu, SP, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Dept Zool, Botucatu, SP, Brazil NSF: DEB-1242267 NSF: DEB-1257898 NSF: DEB-1354149 FAPESP: 14/26508-3 FAPESP: 16/11313-8 FAPESP: 14/05051-5 FAPESP: 14/06853-8

This study uses histological techniques to make a detailed comparison of the reproductive morphologies of four gobiid genera, Amblyeleotris, Ctenogobiops, Fusigobius and Kraemeria. Three distinct reproductive morphological patterns were observed. All species examined in the genus Fusigobius exhibit either an ovariform or testiform gonad and precursive accessory gonadal structures (pAGS) associated with each of the gonadal lobes, regardless of gonadal state. In contrast, among species of Amblyeleotris, Ctenogobiops and Kraemeria examined, pAGS were not found. Furthermore, Amblyeleotris and Ctenogobiops differ from both Kraemeria and Fusigobius in lacking AGS associated with the testiform gonad. These findings, based solely on reproductive morphology, suggest that Kraemeria and Fusigobius may be more closely related to each other than either is to Amblyeleotris and Ctenogobiops. Findings of this study support the view that reproductive morphological patterns could prove informative in elucidating evolutionary relationships within the family Gobiidae.

Since the discovery of spirit-based preservation, scientists have based innumerable studies of systematics, anatomy, development, biogeography, evolutionary biology, and ecomorphology on fluid specimens held by the world's natural history collections. Though alcohol preservation can alter specimen measurements through dehydration and shrinkage, the magnitude of this problem over decadal timescales has never been estimated. If substantial, long-term preservational effects could compromise studies that depend on the comparability of morphometrics drawn from specimens collected at different times unless the artifacts were explicitly controlled. To evaluate the importance of these potential artifacts, we obtained geometric morphometric data from series of four common fish species collected from the Willamette River drainage over the last 70 years and preserved in the Oregon State Ichthyology Collection in 50% isopropanol after formalin fixation. Most regressions of principal component axes against date of col...

Migratory animals respond to environmental heterogeneity by predictably moving long distances in their lifetime. Migration has evolved repeatedly in animals, and many adaptations are found across the tree of life that increase migration efficiency. Life-history theory predicts that migratory species should evolve a larger body size than non-migratory species, and some empirical studies have shown this pattern. A recent study analysed the evolution of body size between diadromous and non-diadromous shads, herrings, anchovies and allies, finding that species evolved larger body sizes when adapting to a diadromous lifestyle. It remains unknown whether different fish clades adapt to migration similarly. We used an adaptive landscape framework to explore body size evolution for over 4500 migratory and non-migratory species of ray-finned fishes. By fitting models of macroevolution, we show that migratory species are evolving towards a body size that is larger than non-migratory species. Furthermore, we find that migratory lineages evolve towards their optimal body size more rapidly than non-migratory lineages, indicating body size is a key adaption for migratory fishes. Our results show, for the first time, that the largest vertebrate radiation on the planet exhibited strong evolutionary determinism when adapting to a migratory lifestyle.

Members of the Leporinus desmotes species complex can be distinguished from other barred or banded congeners by the combination of nine distinct black bars across the head and trunk and long, pointed, laterally compressed and upward curving symphyseal dentary teeth. A taxonomic reassessment of this complex revealed two new species, one from the Orinoco and Negro rivers of Venezuela and Brazil, and the other from the Xingu and Tapajós rivers of Brazil. Both species are similar to L. desmotes and L. jatuncochi, but differ significantly in body shape morphology, coloration, and/or circumpeduncular scale counts. Genetic evidence also contributes to the recognition of both new species. This contribution also maps the geographic distribution of the four known species, and highlights the presence of an unusual meristic polymorphism within Leporinus desmotes sensu stricto that may suggest the presence of even more unrecognized diversity. RESUMO As espécies do complexo Leporinus desmotes diferem da maioria dos congêneres com base nas nove barras transversais escuras ao redor da cabeça e do corpo, e do dente sinfisiano do dentário alongado, comprimido lateralmente e ligeiramente curvado para cima. Uma revisão taxonômica desse complexo revelou a existência de duas espécies novas, uma dos rios Orinoco e Negro na Venezuela e Brasil, e outra das drenagens dos rios Xingu e Tapajós, no Brasil. As duas espécies novas são similares à L. desmotes e L. jatuncochi, das quais diferem significativamente por uma combinação de forma do corpo, coloração e número de séries de escamas ao redor do pedúnculo caudal. Dados genéticos também corroboram o reconhecimento das duas espécies novas. Esta contribuição ainda traz novos dados sobre a distribuição geográfica de cada uma das espécies do complexo, e discute a presença de um incomum polimorfismo no número de escamas ao redor do pedúnculo caudal em Leporinus desmotes stricto sensu, que sugere a presença de uma diversidade ainda maior de espécies não descritas.

A new species of Leporinus in the L. cylindriformis group is described from the Rio Orinoco basin, Venezuela. This new species can be separated from congeners by the combination of an extremely dorsoventrally slender body, the presence of a prominent midlateral spot positioned ventral to the dorsal fin, and the absence of any other intense dark pigmentation. The new species is most similar to L. aripuanaensis from the Rio Aripuana, Brazil, but can be most easily differentiated from that species by the absence (79% of specimens) or faint presence (21% of specimens) of a circular dark spot over the hypural plate in the new species, versus the presence of an intensely pigmented dark spot in that position, respectively. It can be further distinguished from L. aripuanaensis by the modal number of predorsal scales (12 versus 11). Small juveniles of the two species do not differ morphometrically, but their allometric growth trajectories differ. Above 70 mm SL, the new species differs from L. aripuanaensis in int...

Kentucky has a long history of ichthyological collection and study. Voucher specimens are available for collections dating back to 1870 and are housed in various museums and research collections in the United States. In this paper we present a descriptive overview and the current status of a project aimed at building a centralized database for vouchered records of Kentucky fishes. To date, we have entered over 51,000 records into the database. Each of these entries contains at least three vital pieces of information: species identification, georeferenced locality, and time of collection. With increasing recognition of the potential value of museum-based data in biological, ecological and conservation studies such a centralized database will serve as an important scientific resource for the study of Kentucky fishes.

While intertidal habitats are often productive, species-rich environments, they are also harsh and highly dynamic. Organisms that live in these habitats must possess morphological and physiological adaptations that enable them to do so. Intertidal fishes are generally small, often lack scales, and the diverse families represented in intertidal habitats often show convergence into a few general body shapes. However, few studies have quantified the relationship between phenotypes and intertidal living. Likewise, the diversity of reproductive traits and parental care in intertidal fishes has yet to be compared quantitatively with habitat. We examine the relationship of these characters in the sculpin subfamily Oligocottinae using a phylogenetic hypothesis, geometric morphometrics, and phylogenetic comparative methods to provide the first formal test of associations between fish phenotypes and reproductive characters with intertidal habitats. We show that the ability to live in intertidal habitats, particularly in tide pools, is likely a primitive state for Oligocottinae, with a single species that has secondarily come to occupy only subtidal habitats. Contrary to previous hypotheses, maximum size and presence of scales do not show a statistically significant correlation with depth. However, the maximum size for all species is generally small (250 mm or less) and all show a reduction in scales, as would be expected for an intertidal group. Also contrary to previous hypotheses, we show that copulation and associated characters are the ancestral condition in Oligocottinae, with copulation most likely being lost in a single lineage within the genus Artedius. Lastly, we show that body shape appears to be constrained among species with broader depth ranges, but lineages that occupy only a narrow range of intertidal habitats display novel body shapes, and this may be associated with habitat partitioning, particularly as it relates to the degree of wave exposure.

An investigation of the aqueous chlorination (NaOCl) of resorcinol is reported. The following intermediates were detected in moderate to high yield at different pH values and varying percentages of chlorination: 2-chloro-, 4-chloro-, 2,4-dichloro-, 4,6-dichloro- and 2,4,6-trichlororesorcinol. Only trace amounts of the intermediates were detected when the chlorination was conducted in the presence of phosphate buffer. This result has significant implications since resorcinol in phosphate buffer has been used as a model compound in several recent studies on the formation of chlorinated hydrocarbons during chlorination of drinking water. Relative rates of chlorination were determined for resorcinol and several of the chlorinated resorcinols. Resorcinol was found to chlorinate only three times faster than 2,4,6-trichlororesorcinol. The structure 2,4,6-trichlororesorcinol was established as a monohydrate even after sublimation. A tetrachloro or pentachloro intermediate was not detected, suggesting that the ring-opening step of such an intermediate must be rapid.