Does a predatory insect contribute to the divergence between cave- and surface-adapted fish populations?
Immigrant inviability, where individuals from foreign, ecologically divergent habitats are less likely to survive, can restrict gene flow among diverging populations and result in speciation. I investigated whether a predatory aquatic insect (Belostoma sp.) selects against migrants between cave and surface populations of a fish (Poecilia mexicana). Cavefish were more susceptible to attacks in the light, whereas surface fish were more susceptible in darkness. Environmentally dependent susceptibility to attacks may thus contribute to genetic and phenotypic differentiation between the populations. This study highlights how predation-in this case in conjunction with differences in other environmental factors-can be an important driver in speciation.
Tobler
Michael
M
Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA. michi.tobler@gmail.com
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D005399:Fishes; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology*; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D011036:Poecilia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D011235:Predatory Behavior