Morphometric comparisons of plant-mimetic juvenile fish associated with plant debris observed in the coastal subtropical waters around Kuchierabu-jima Island, southern Japan.

ABSTRACT: The general morphological shape of plant-resembling fish and plant parts were compared using a geometric morphometrics approach. Three plant-mimetic fish species, Lobotes surinamensis (Lobotidae), Platax orbicularis (Ephippidae) and Canthidermis maculata (Balistidae), were compared during their early developmental stages with accompanying plant debris (i.e., leaves of several taxa) in the coastal subtropical waters around Kuchierabu-jima Island, closely facing the Kuroshio Current. The degree of similarity shared between the plant parts and co-occurring fish species was quantified, however fish remained morphologically distinct from their plant models. Such similarities were corroborated by analysis of covariance and linear discriminant analysis, in which relative body areas of fish were s

SUBMITTER: de Queiroz AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4974952 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature