Local versus Generalized Phenotypes in Two Sympatric Aurelia Species: Understanding Jellyfish Ecology Using Genetics and Morphometrics.

ABSTRACT: For individuals living in environmentally heterogeneous environments, a key component for adaptation and persistence is the extent of phenotypic differentiation in response to local environmental conditions. In order to determine the extent of environmentally induced morphological variation in a natural population distributed along environmental gradients, it is necessary to account for potential genetic differences contributing to morphological differentiation. In this study, we set out to quantify geographic morphological variation in the moon jellyfish Aurelia exposed at the extremes of a latitudinal environmental gradient in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). We used morphological data based on 28 characters, and genetic data taken from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and nuclear inter

SUBMITTER: Chiaverano LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4917110 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature