Abstract
AB Aquatic Biology Contact the journal Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections AB 21:155-165 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00579 Synchronization in allometric and morphological changes during metamorphosis: comparison among four sparid species N. Nikolioudakis1,*, G. Koumoundouros2, S. Somarakis1 1Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Thalassocosmos, Heraklion 71003, Crete, Greece 2Department of Biology, University of Crete, PO Box 2208, 71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece *Corresponding author: niknikos@hcmr.gr ABSTRACT: Understanding critical ontogenetic transitions in the life of fish, such as metamorphosis, is of prime importance for determining the factors that affect survival probabilities and control recruitment levels. Metamorphosis involves a plethora of changing characters and its definition requires a multi-parametric approach. In the present study, mean lengths (Lm) at allometric and morphological change during the transition from larval to juvenile phenotype were estimated with a recently introduced multi-character protocol and compared between Diplodus sargus (settling in spring), Oblada melanura (summer), D. puntazzo (autumn) and D. vulgaris (winter). Lm from allometry closely matched Lm from morphology in D. sargus and D. puntazzo but not in the winter- and summer-settling species, in which morphological transition occurred later or earlier than allometric change, respectively. Lm from allometry was very similar in the 3 Diplodus species but larger in O. melanura. The coefficients of variation of Lm from morphometric and morphological characters were negatively correlated. Morphological transitions were less synchronized but changes in allometric growth were more synchronized in D. vulgaris (winter) while the opposite was true for O. melanura (summer). This study highlights for the first time the relative importance of taxonomic relatedness and season (temperature) in determining the size at metamorphosis and the degree of synchronization (abruptness of change) both within and between mensural and morphological characters. KEY WORDS: Metamorphosis · Allometry · Morphology · Sparidae Full text in pdf format PreviousCite this article as: Nikolioudakis N, Koumoundouros G, Somarakis S (2014) Synchronization in allometric and morphological changes during metamorphosis: comparison among four sparid species. Aquat Biol 21:155-165. https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00579 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AB Vol. 21, No. 2. Online publication date: July 23, 2014 Print ISSN: 1864-7782; Online ISSN: 1864-7790 Copyright © 2014 Inter-Research.
Highlights
Metamorphosis, i.e. the transition from larval to juvenile phenotype is an important event in the life cycle of fishes (Thorisson 1994, Copp & Ková 1996, McCormick et al 2002, Nikolioudakis et al 2010)
Morphological transitions were less synchronized but changes in allometric growth were more synchronized in D. vulgaris while the opposite was true for O. melanura
Aquat Biol 21: 155–165, 2014 white seabreams Diplodus sargus caught in spring and a high agreement was demonstrated between size-at-change in multivariate allometric growth and mean size-at-morphological transformation associated with metamorphosis (Nikolioudakis et al 2010)
Summary
Metamorphosis, i.e. the transition from larval to juvenile phenotype is an important event in the life cycle of fishes (Thorisson 1994, Copp & Ková 1996, McCormick et al 2002, Nikolioudakis et al 2010). We used techniques to calculate length-at-metamorphosis that were based on scoring a suite of morphological characters (‘multivariate morphometry’) and on principal component analysis of morphometric traits (‘multivariate allometry’). These techniques were applied to newly settled. Under the general framework of multi-character approaches to study metamorphosis (Ditty et al 2003, Nikolioudakis et al 2010, Ben Khemis et al 2013), and using a comparative approach, we aimed at addressing 2 main questions expected to improve our understanding of ontogenetic transitions: (1) Is the close coupling of morphological transformation and allometric growth change, demonstrated in Diplodus sargus (Nikolioudakis et al 2010), consistent across species? Under the general framework of multi-character approaches to study metamorphosis (Ditty et al 2003, Nikolioudakis et al 2010, Ben Khemis et al 2013), and using a comparative approach, we aimed at addressing 2 main questions expected to improve our understanding of ontogenetic transitions: (1) Is the close coupling of morphological transformation and allometric growth change, demonstrated in Diplodus sargus (Nikolioudakis et al 2010), consistent across species? (2) How high is the degree of synchronization of the different morphological and morphometric traits during metamorphotic change in species from different seasons/temperature regimes?
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