Ecological speciation in postglacial European whitefish: rapid adaptive radiations into the littoral, pelagic, and profundal lake habitats.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how a monophyletic lineage of a species diverges into several adaptive forms has received increased attention in recent years, but the underlying mechanisms in this process are still under debate. Postglacial fishes are excellent model organisms for exploring this process, especially the initial stages of ecological speciation, as postglacial lakes represent replicated discrete environments with variation in available niches. Here, we combine data of niche utilization, trophic morphology, and 17 microsatellite loci to investigate the diversification process of three sympatric European whitefish morphs from three northern Fennoscandian lakes. The morphological divergence in the gill raker number among the whitefish morphs was related to the utilization of different trophic nic

SUBMITTER: Præbel K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3892361 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature