title: Modular diversification of the locomotor system in damselfishes (Pomacentridae).
abstract: As fish move and interact with their aquatic environment by swimming, small morphological variations of the locomotor system can have profound implications on fitness. Damselfishes (Pomacentridae) have inhabited coral reef ecosystems for more than 50 million years. As such, habitat preferences and behavior could significantly constrain the morphology and evolvability of the locomotor system. To test this hypothesis, we used phylogenetic comparative methods on morphometric, ecological and behavioral data. While body elongation represented the primary source of variation in the locomotor system of damselfishes, results also showed a diverse suite of morphological combinations between extreme morphologies. Results show clear associations between behavior, habitat preferences, and morphology, suggesting ecological constraints on shape diversification of the locomotor system. In addition, results indicate that the three modules of the locomotor system are weakly correlated, resulting in versatile and independent characters. These results suggest that Pomacentridae is shape may result from the interaction between (1) integrated parts of morphological variation that maintain overall swimming ability and (2) relatively independent parts of the morphology that facilitate adaptation and diversification.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Dr. South, Los Angeles, California, 90095, USA.|Instituto De Ecología Aplicada, Universidad Autónoma De Tamaulipas, 356 División Del Golfo, Col. Libertad, Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, 87029, México.
authors.forename: Rosalía
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aguilar-Medrano
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire De Morphologie Fonctionnelle Et Evolutive, AFFISH Research Center, Université De Liège, Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Frédérich
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Dr. South, Los Angeles, California, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Paul H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Barber
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D010473:Perciformes / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D013550:Swimming
keywords: ecomorphology; evolutionary morphology; geometric morphometrics; integration; locomotion; modularity; reef fish