Phenotypic plasticity of a generalist fish species resident to lotic environments: Insights from the Great Lakes region.

ABSTRACT: Fish morphology is incredibly plastic and local/resident morphology can be influenced by factors including habitat, predation, resource availability, and water velocity. Through analysis of body shape using geometric morphometrics, we describe the degree of phenotypic plasticity within a generalist fish species resident to low-order tributaries of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. We predicted that isolated populations of creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) would display plastic responses in body shape due to differences in selective pressures imposed by stream environments. We show that body shape of creek chub was significantly different between streams which are considered to be isolated populations, and while we expected body shape variation to remain constant between study years, w

SUBMITTER: Hetzel C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10660395 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature