Recent sympatric speciation involving habitat-associated nuptial colour polymorphism in a crater lake cichlid

Abstract

Even though the idea that modes of speciation other than allopatric speciation are possible in nature is now widespread, compelling examples of ecological speciation in sympatry remain rare. We studied an undescribed radiation of haplochromine cichlids in a young crater lake in western Uganda, and in the small river that is nearby but has currently no known surface connection to the lake. We describe two different modes of speciation that occurred in this cichlid lineage within the past 1,500–10,000 years. Not constrained by gene flow, allopatric divergence between river and lake cichlids affects many different morphological traits as well as nuptial colouration—muted in the river, but intensified and polymorphic in lake cichlids—and neutral genetic differentiation. More surprisingly, we demonstrate a case for sympatric speciation within the small lake that is associated with dramatic differences in male breeding colouration (yellow with bright red-chest versus bright blue) and subtle differences in microhabitat, feeding regime and morphology. Reproductive isolation by assortative mating is suggested by significant differentiation between yellow and blue males in neutral markers of gene flow despite complete sympatry. We hypothesize speciation is mediated by divergent selection on sexual signalling between microhabitats.