Parallel evolution of morphological traits and body shape in littoral and pelagic brook charr, Salvelinus fontinalis, along a gradient of interspecific competition.

Abstract

The parallel evolution of similar ecotypes in response to comparable environmental conditions is believed to reveal the importance of divergent selection in phenotypic diversifying processes. Systems characterized by the presence of multiple replicate populations expressing resource polymorphism thus provide an ideal opportunity to address the occurrence and factors affecting the parallel evolution of ecotypes. Previous studies have shown that brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) exhibit resource polymorphism in some Canadian Shield lakes, where a littoral ecotype feeds mainly on zoobenthos and a pelagic ecotype feeds mostly on zooplankton. Using morphological traits and geometric morphometric analyses on 18 native brook charr populations, we explicitly tested (i) whether brook charr ecotypes show parallel evolution across populations (i.e. the same morphological traits discriminate ecotypes among lakes) and (ii) whether interspecific competition decreases the amplitude of morphological differentiation between ecotypes, if any, because brook charr experience some level of competitive exclusion from the littoral habitat in the presence of creek chub or white sucker. We observed a low level of parallel evolution, where the littoral ecotype was overall stouter with longer fins and smaller eyes than the pelagic ecotype. Interspecific competition had no clear impacts on the amplitude of morphological differentiation. We also observed that inter-lake morphological differences are greater than between ecotypes within lakes, suggesting an important effect of local environmental factors on population morphology. Early-stage of diversification as well as phenotypic plasticity and morphological integration could explain why resource polymorphism is still subtle in brook charr populations.