Diet and diversification in the evolution of coral reef fishes

Lobato, Fabio L., Barneche, Diego R., Siqueira, Alexandre C., Liedke, Ana M.R., Lindner, Alberto, Pie, Marcio R., Bellwood, David R., and Floeter, Sergio R. (2014) Diet and diversification in the evolution of coral reef fishes. PLoS ONE, 9 (7). e102094. pp. 1-11.

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Abstract

The disparity in species richness among evolutionary lineages is one of the oldest and most intriguing issues in evolutionary biology. Although geographical factors have been traditionally thought to promote speciation, recent studies have underscored the importance of ecological interactions as one of the main drivers of diversification. Here, we test if differences in species richness of closely related lineages match predictions based on the concept of density-dependent diversification. As radiation progresses, ecological niche-space would become increasingly saturated, resulting in fewer opportunities for speciation. To assess this hypothesis, we tested whether reef fish niche shifts toward usage of low-quality food resources (i.e. relatively low energy/protein per unit mass), such as algae, detritus, sponges and corals are accompanied by rapid net diversification. Using available molecular information, we reconstructed phylogenies of four major reef fish clades (Acanthuroidei, Chaetodontidae, Labridae and Pomacentridae) to estimate the timing of radiations of their subclades. We found that the evolution of species-rich clades was associated with a switch to low quality food in three of the four clades analyzed, which is consistent with a density-dependent model of diversification. We suggest that ecological opportunity may play an important role in understanding the diversification of reef-fish lineages.

Item ID: 36116
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1932-6203
Additional Information:

© 2014 Lobato et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funders: Microsoft Corporation, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Australian Research Council (ARC)
Date Deposited: 12 Nov 2014 12:40
FoR Codes: 06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0602 Ecology > 060205 Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl Marine Ichthyology) @ 100%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9608 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity > 960808 Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity @ 100%
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