Characterizing phenotypic diversity in marine populations of the threespine stickleback.

ABSTRACT: The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is an important model for studying the evolution of vertebrate morphology. Sticklebacks inhabit freshwater, brackish, and marine northern hemisphere waters. Anadromous and marine populations (hereafter marine) are assumed to have remained unchanged morphologically from ancestral marine sticklebacks, despite marine environments varying on regional and local scales. Recent studies suggest that genetic and phenotypic structure exists in marine populations, yet the scale of this variation, and its ecological causes remain unclear. Our goal was to assess morphological trait variation in marine stickleback populations around Southern British Columbia (BC) and determine if oceanographic and habitat characteristics were associated with this varia

SUBMITTER: Fraser AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9606258 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature