title: Otolith shape lends support to the sensory drive hypothesis in rockfishes.
abstract: The sensory drive hypothesis proposes that environmental factors affect both signalling dynamics and the evolution of signals and receivers. Sound detection and equilibrium in marine fishes are senses dependent on the sagittae otoliths, whose morphological variability appears intrinsically linked to the environment. The aim of this study was to understand if and which environmental factors could be conditioning the evolution of this sensory structure, therefore lending support to the sensory drive hypothesis. Thus, we analysed the otolith shape of 42 rockfish species (Sebastes spp.) to test the potential associations with the phylogeny, biological (age), ecological (feeding habit and depth distribution) and biogeographical factors. The results showed strong differences in the otolith shapes of some species, noticeably influenced by ecological and biogeographical factors. Moreover, otolith shape was clearly conditioned by phylogeny, but with a strong environmental effect, cautioning about the use of this structure for the systematics of rockfishes or other marine fishes. However, our most relevant finding is that the data supported the sensory drive hypothesis as a force promoting the radiation of the genus Sebastes. This hypothesis holds that adaptive divergence in communication has significant influence relative to other life history traits. It has already been established in Sebastes for visual characters and organs; our results showed that it applies to otolith transformations as well (despite the clear influence of feeding and depth), expanding the scope of the hypothesis to other sensory structures.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain. vtuset@icm.csic.es.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Tuset
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidad de Vigo, 36310 Vigo (Pontevedra), Spain.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Otero-Ferrer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gómez-Zurita
authors.affiliation: Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR), Centro Nacional Patagónico (CENPAT-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Venerus
authors.affiliation: Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stransky
authors.affiliation: Coastal Marine Biolabs, Integrative Biosciences Program, Ventura, CA, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Imondi
authors.affiliation: Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Moscow, Russia.|A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Moscow, Russia.|Department of Ichthyology, Faculty of Biology, Dagestan State University, Makhachkala, Russia.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Orlov
authors.affiliation: Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Coastal Marine Biolabs, Integrative Biosciences Program, Ventura, CA, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santschi
authors.affiliation: Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Afanasiev
authors.affiliation: Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farré
authors.affiliation: Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Love
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lombarte
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004777:Environment; D005399:Fishes; D010037:Otolithic Membrane / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010465:Perception; D010473:Perciformes / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny
keywords: adaptation; ecology; otolith shape; phylogeny; rockfishes; sensory drive hypothesis