Contemporary parallel diversification, antipredator adaptations and phenotypic integration in an aquatic isopod.

ABSTRACT: It is increasingly being recognized that predation can be a strong diversifying agent promoting ecological divergence. Adaptations against different predatory regimes can emerge over short periods of time and include many different traits. We studied antipredator adaptations in two ecotypes of an isopod (Asellus aquaticus) that have, diverged in parallel in two Swedish lakes over the last two decades. We quantified differences in escape speed, morphology and behavior for isopods from different ecotypes present in these lakes. Isopods from the source habitat (reed) coexist with mainly invertebrate predators. They are more stream-profiled and have higher escape speeds than isopods in the newly colonized stonewort habitat, which has higher density of fish predators. Stonewort isopods also sho

SUBMITTER: Eroukhmanoff F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2704376 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature