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Geographic variation in lower pharyngeal jaw morphology in the Shiner Perch Cymatogaster aggregata (Embiotocidae, Teleostei)

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Abstract

Correlations of feeding morphology with body morphology reflect ecological variation of a species and the geographic or ontogenetic scales over which it occurs. In this study, evidence was found for geographic variation in lower pharyngeal jaw (LPJ) morphology of Cymatogaster aggregata Gibbons (Embiotocidae, Teleostei) in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A. Correlations of LPJ morphology with body morphology were more obvious in adulthood than the juvenile stage. Morphological patterns corresponded better with environmental variables and gut contents than geographic proximity, indicating that they were most likely caused by habitat differences. Qualitative common garden experiments indicated the nature and direction of plastic responses, and indicate a likely plastic origin to most naturally observed differences. Recognizing ecological patterns via morphology is an important first step in understanding how and when ecological mechanisms influence the functional role of an organism within its environment.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support was received from the University of Washington Graduate School Fund for Excellence and Innovation Scholarship and from the William W. and Dorothy T. Gilbert Ichthyology Research Fund. I thank T.W. Pietsch, L. Hauser, and J.W. Orr for their advice, help with data analyses, comments on the manuscript, and general support. I am also grateful for comments and discussion provided by two anonymous reviewers. K. Maslenikov provided curatorial assistance. Thanks to P. D. Polly for providing Mathematica coding to form deformation grids. Finally, thanks to the many fellow graduate students and coworkers who aided me in specimen collection and 4 anonymous reviewers.

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  1. School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Pamela J. Woods

  2. Department of Biology, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Pamela J. Woods

  3. Hólar University College, 551, Sauðárkrókur, Iceland

    Pamela J. Woods

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Woods, P.J. Geographic variation in lower pharyngeal jaw morphology in the Shiner Perch Cymatogaster aggregata (Embiotocidae, Teleostei). Environ Biol Fish 88, 153–168 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-010-9626-9

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