Does color matter? Molecular and ecological divergence in four sympatric color morphs of a coral reef fish
Type
ArticleAuthors
Gaither, Michelle R.
Coker, Darren James

Greaves, Samuel

Sarigol, Fatih

Payet, Samuel D.

Chaidez, Veronica

Sinclair-Taylor, Tane H.

DiBattista, Joseph

Berumen, Michael L.

KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionDivision of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Red Sea Research CenterKing Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal Saudi Arabia
Environmental Science and Engineering Program
Marine Science Program
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
Reef Ecology Lab
KAUST Grant Number
CRG-1-2012-BER-002Date
2020-09-03Online Publication Date
2020-09-03Print Publication Date
2020-09Submitted Date
2020-03-23Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/665036
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Non-sex-linked color polymorphism is common in animals and can be maintained in populations via balancing selection or, when under diversifying selection, can promote divergence. Despite their potential importance in ecological interactions and the evolution of biodiversity, their function and the mechanisms by which these polymorphisms are maintained are still poorly understood. Here, we combine field observations with life history and molecular data to compare four sympatric color morphs of the coral reef fish Paracirrhites forsteri (family Cirrhitidae) in the central Red Sea. Our findings verify that the color morphs are not sex-limited, inhabit the same reefs, and do not show clear signs of avoidance or aggression among them. A barcoding approach based on 1,276 bp of mitochondrial DNA could not differentiate the color morphs. However, when 36,769 SNPs were considered, we found low but significant population structure. Focusing on 1,121 FST outliers, we recovered distinct population clusters that corresponded to shifts in allele frequencies with each color morph harboring unique alleles. Genetic divergence at these outlier loci is accompanied by differences in growth and marginal variation in microhabitat preference. Together, life history and molecular analysis suggest subtle divergence between the color morphs in this population, the causes for which remain elusive.Citation
Gaither, M. R., Coker, D. J., Greaves, S., Sarigol, F., Payet, S. D., Chaidez, V., … Berumen, M. L. (2020). Does color matter? Molecular and ecological divergence in four sympatric color morphs of a coral reef fish. Ecology and Evolution. doi:10.1002/ece3.6566Sponsors
This study was supported by KAUST Award No. CRG-1-2012-BER-002 and baseline research funds to M.L.B., an Environment and Agriculture Visiting Scholar Scheme (EAVSS) Fellowship at Curtin University to M.R.G., and startup funding from the University of Central Florida to M.R.G. For logistic support in Saudi Arabia, we thank Eric Mason at Dream Divers, the KAUST Coastal and Marine Resources Core Lab, and Amr Gusti, as well as members of the Reef Ecology Lab at KAUST. For assistance with library preparation at KAUST, we thank Craig Michell. We acknowledge important contributions from Lutz Froenicke and the staff at the UC Davis Genome Center. We also thank Pablo Saenz-Agudelo for help in testing structure runs with their computing cluster at the Austral University of Chile and Shelley Jones for her assistance with taxonomic research.Publisher
WileyJournal
Ecology and EvolutionAdditional Links
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ece3.6566ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/ece3.6566
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