Abstract
Collectively, ray‐finned fishes (Actinopterygii) display far more diversity in many reproductive and genomic features than any other major vertebrate group. Recent large‐scale comparative phylogenetic analyses have begun to reveal the evolutionary patterns and putative causes for much of this diversity. Several such recent studies have offered clues to how different reproductive syndromes evolved in these fishes, as well as possible physiological and genomic triggers. In many cases, repeated independent origins of complex reproductive strategies have been uncovered, probably reflecting convergent selection operating on common suites of underlying genes and hormonal controls. For example, phylogenetic analyses have uncovered multiple origins and predominant transitional pathways in the evolution of alternative male reproductive tactics, modes of parental care and mechanisms of sex determination. They have also shown that sexual selection in these fishes is repeatedly associated with particular reproductive strategies. Collectively, studies on reproductive and genomic diversity across the Actinopterygii illustrate both the strengths and the limitations of comparative phylogenetic approaches on large taxonomic scales.
Highlights
With more than 20 000 living species representing more than 400 taxonomic families, ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) are ideal subjects for comparative analyses of reproductive evolution because they display a remarkable diversity of morphologies and behaviours related to procreation (Amundsen, 2003)
The basic notion of comparative phylogenetics has been a part of evolutionary biology for more than a century, but in the past few decades (Felsenstein, 1985), quantitative and statistical frameworks for comparative methods have been formally developed
Debate continues on the appropriateness and need for phylogenetic corrections (Ricklefs, 1996; Price, 1997; Harvey & Rambaut, 1998), comparative phylogenetic approaches have gained popularity for at least two basic reasons: ancestral states themselves are often of inherent interest and spurious correlations can be a problem in comparative data sets when phylogeny is neglected
Summary
With more than 20 000 living species representing more than 400 taxonomic families, ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) are ideal subjects for comparative analyses of reproductive evolution because they display a remarkable diversity of morphologies and behaviours related to procreation (Amundsen, 2003) This variety manifests at multiple levels of reproductive biology, e.g. sex-determining mechanisms, including male heterogamety (XY), female heterogamety (ZW) and autosomal genetic triggers (Devlin & Nagahama, 2002), pre-mating. Similar analyses have been conducted on various other reproductive traits in fishes, such as male brood-pouch designs in syngnathids (Wilson et al, 2001, 2003), and livebearing and placental structures in poeciliids (Meyer & Lydeard, 1993, Reznick et al, 2002) Such studies on specific features in particular small clades can offer many evolutionary insights, the study of multiple categories of traits in much larger clades offers novel challenges as well as opportunities. We will illustrate the comparative phylogenetic approach as applied to large taxonomic assemblages by reviewing recent work on ray-finned fishes and placing results in the context of current thought about the evolutionary sources of reproductive and genomic diversity in this huge vertebrate clade
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