title: Comparative Allometric Growth of the Mimetic Ephippid Reef Fishes Chaetodipterus faber and Platax orbicularis.
abstract: Mimesis is a relatively widespread phenomenon among reef fish, but the ontogenetic processes relevant for mimetic associations in fish are still poorly understood. In the present study, the allometric growth of two allopatric leaf-mimetic species of ephippid fishes, Chaetodipterus faber from the Atlantic and Platax orbicularis from the Indo-Pacific, was analyzed using ten morphological variables. The development of fins was considered owing to the importance of these structures for mimetic behaviors during early life stages. Despite the anatomical and behavioral similarities in both juvenile and adult stages, C. faber and P. orbicularis showed distinct patterns of growth. The overall shape of C. faber transforms from a rounded-shape in mimetic juveniles to a lengthened profile in adults, while in P. orbicularis, juveniles present an oblong profile including dorsal and anal fins, with relative fin size diminishing while the overall profile grows rounder in adults. Although the two species are closely-related, the present results suggest that growth patterns in C. faber and P. orbicularis are different, and are probably independent events in ephippids that have resulted from similar selective processes.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Pará - Campus de Bragança. Instituto de Estudos Costeiros-Laboratório de Evolução. Alameda Leandro Ribeiro, s/n, Aldeia, CEP 68600-000 Bragança, Pará, Brazil.|Graduate School of Biosphere Sciences, Laboratory of Aquatic Resources, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama, 1-4-4, 739-0046, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Breno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Barros
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Biosphere Sciences, Laboratory of Aquatic Resources, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama, 1-4-4, 739-0046, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.affiliation: School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University-JCU Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia.
authors.forename: Pedro H C
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Ifremer Centre Océanologique du Pacifique, Unité Ressources Marines en Polynésie française-BP 7004, 98719, Taravao, Polynésie française.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gasset
authors.affiliation: Ifremer Centre Océanologique du Pacifique, Unité Ressources Marines en Polynésie française-BP 7004, 98719, Taravao, Polynésie française.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Buchet
authors.affiliation: Direction des Ressources Maritimes et Minières-BP 20, 98713, Papeete, Polynésie française.
authors.forename: Moana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maamaatuaiahutapu
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Pará - Laboratório de Biologia Pesqueira-Manejo dos Recursos Aquáticos. Av. Perimetral 2651 Terra Firme 66040170, Belém, PA-Brazil.
authors.forename: Jonathan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ready
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Pará - Campus de Bragança. Instituto de Estudos Costeiros-Laboratório de Evolução. Alameda Leandro Ribeiro, s/n, Aldeia, CEP 68600-000 Bragança, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Yrlan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Pará - Laboratório de Biologia Pesqueira-Manejo dos Recursos Aquáticos. Av. Perimetral 2651 Terra Firme 66040170, Belém, PA-Brazil.
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Giarrizzo
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Pará - Campus de Bragança. Instituto de Estudos Costeiros-Laboratório de Evolução. Alameda Leandro Ribeiro, s/n, Aldeia, CEP 68600-000 Bragança, Pará, Brazil.|CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vallinoto
mesh_terms: D058500:Animal Fins / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D010473:Perciformes / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D013045:Species Specificity