Comparative Functional and Phylogenomic Analyses of Host Association in the Remoras (Echeneidae), a Family of Hitchhiking Fishes.

ABSTRACT: The family Echeneidae consists of eight species of marine fishes that hitchhike by adhering to a wide variety of vertebrate hosts via a sucking disc. While several studies have focused on the interrelationships of the echeneids and the adhesion performance of a single species, no clear phylogenetic hypothesis has emerged and the morphological basis of adhesion remains largely unknown. We first set out to resolve the interrelationships of the Echeneidae by taking a phylogenomic approach using ultraconserved elements. Then, within this framework, we characterized disc morphology through µ-CT analysis, evaluated host specificity through an analysis of host phylogenetic distance, and determined which axes of disc morphological variation are associated with host diversity, skin surface p

SUBMITTER: Kenaley CP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7671162 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature