Ecological and morphological differentiation of pumpkinseed sunfish in lakes without bluegill sunfish

Abstract

Over the last three decades, sunfish of the familyCentrarchidae have become recognized as a model system in which the ecological consequences of species interactions can be observed and tested. The evolutionary consequences of species interactions in sunfish have received less attention. Bluegill (Lepomis machrochirus) and pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) sunfish are two common and well-studied species that occupy separate ecological niches. Adult bluegill are generalists that feed in the open water on zooplankton during much of the year, while adult pumpkinseeds specialize on crushing hard-bodied prey such as snails. These species coexist over much of their geographical ranges, but bluegill are historically absent from several large drainage basins in the northeastern US. Here we show that pumpkinseeds from an Adirondack lake without bluegills have differentiated into two morphological forms, one of which is planktivorous. Differentiation is independent of sex and occurs over a broad range of sizes. Thus, the ecological diversity that exists between the bluegill and pumpkinseeds in sympatry has been replaced by a comparable degree of diversity within pumpkinseeds in allopatry.