Morphometric convergence among European sand gobies in freshwater (Gobiiformes: Gobionellidae).

ABSTRACT: The five genera of sand gobies inhabit the seas and freshwaters of Europe and western Asia and occupy habitats ranging from fully marine to exclusively freshwater. In this study, we use geometric morphometrics to quantify body shape among sand gobies, in order to investigate how shape has evolved and how it is related to habitat. We also compare body shape between preserved museum specimens and fresh specimens, to determine whether or not fixation and storage in ethanol introduce detectable bias. We confirm that the fixed specimens exhibit significant shape changes as compared to fresh specimens, and so, we perform the bulk of our analyses exclusively on fixed specimens. We find that Economidichthys, Orsinigobius, and Pomatoschistus occupy distinct regions of morphospa

SUBMITTER: Thacker CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6662260 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature