Trade-off between morphological convergence and opportunistic diet behavior in fish hybrid zone.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The invasive Chondrostoma nasus nasus has colonized part of the distribution area of the protected endemic species Chondrostoma toxostoma toxostoma. This hybrid zone is a complex system where multiple effects such as inter-species competition, bi-directional introgression, strong environmental pressure and so on are combined. Why do sympatric Chondrostoma fish present a unidirectional change in body shape? Is this the result of inter-species interactions and/or a response to environmental effects or the result of trade-offs? Studies focusing on the understanding of a trade-off between multiple parameters are still rare. Although this has previously been done for Cichlid species flock and for Darwin finches, where mouth or beak morphology were coupled to diet and genetic

SUBMITTER: Corse E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2773775 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature