Streamflow environment predicts divergent life history phenotypes among populations of the Blacktail ShinerCyprinella venusta: Temporal stability of a large‐scale pattern

Abstract

AbstractEgg size variation among 16 Gulf Coast populations ofCyprinella venusta, the Blacktail Shiner, previously was shown to be significantly correlated with annual stream runoff. In this study, we examined egg size across multiple years and seasons in a subset of the original populations, focusing on three streams that differed widely in annual stream runoff. These populations appear to have been derived independently, possibly nearly synchronously in geological time, from an ancestral form. Thus, they can be considered statistically independent. Most of the variation in egg size was attributable to differences across the three populations. Although annual and seasonal variation was present, the three populations shifted similarly on both of these time scales. The results support an earlier hypothesis that streamflow, quantified using mean annual runoff, is a strong selective influence on egg size, hence offspring size, favouring larger egg size in populations inhabiting streams with greater levels of runoff.