Comparative study on the cranial morphology of Gymnallabes typus (Siluriformes: Clariidae) and their less anguilliform relatives, Clariallabes melas and Clarias gariepinus

Abstract

We compare the cranial morphology of four fish species with an increasing anguilliformism in the following order: Clarias gariepinus, Clariallabes melas, Gymnallabes typus, and Channallabes apus. The main anatomical-morphological disparities are the stepwise reduction of the skull roof along with the relative enlargement of the external jaw muscles, which occurred in each of them. Gymnallabes typus and C. apus lack a bony protection to cover the jaw muscles. The neurocranial bones of C. gariepinus, however, form a closed, broad roof, whereas the width of the neurocranium in C. melas is intermediate. Several features of the clariid heads, such as the size of the mouth and the bands of small teeth, may be regarded as adaptations for manipulating large food particles, which are even more pronounced in anguilliform clariids. The jaw musculature of G. typus is hypertrophied and attached on a higher coronoid process of the lower jaw, causing a larger adductive force. The hyomandibula interdigitates more strongly with the neurocranium and its dentition with longer teeth is posteriorly extended, closer to the lower jaw articulation. The anguilliform clariids also have their cranial muscles modified to enable a wider gape. The adductor mandibulae and the levator operculi extend more posteriorly, and the anterior attachment site of the protractor hyoidei dorsalis shifts toward the sagittal plane of the head. A phylogenetic analysis of the Clariidae, which is in progress, could check the validity of Boulenger's hypothesis that predecessors of the primitive fishes, such as Heterobranchus and most Clarias, would have evolved into progressively anguilliform clariids. J. Morphol. 240:169–194, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.