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Does Constructional Morphology Constrain Lake Malawi Cichlid Fish Diversification?

April 26, 2017cichlid constrain constructional diversification fish Lake malawi morphology

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Does Constructional Morphology Constrain Lake Malawi Cichlid Fish Diversification?

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HULSEY, CD*; MIMS, MC; STREELMAN, JT; Georgia Tech; Georgia Tech; Georgia Tech dh251@mail.gatech.edu Evolutionary tradeoffs among eye size and jaw muscles in cichlid fishes of the African Great Lakes may reflect constructional constraints that influenced the evolution of this diverse assemblage. To test several hypothesized constraints on the evolutionary independence of these structures in the Lake Malawi cichlid radiation, we measured the mass of the three major adductor mandibulae (AM) muscles and subsequently determined the eye volume in 41 species. Using both a phylogeny generated from the ND2 gene and Mantel tests to control for evolutionary history, we tested the modularity, or evolutionary independence, of these four structures.