Abstract
Local specialisation can be advantageous for individuals, and may increase the
resilience of the species to environmental change. However, there may be trade-offs between
morphological responses and physiological performance and behaviour. Our aim was to test
whether habitat-specific morphology of stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) interacts with
physiological performance and behaviour at different salinities. We rejected the hypothesis
that deeper body shape of fish from habitats with high predation pressure led to decreases in
locomotor performance. However, there was a trade-off between deeper body shape and
muscle quality. Muscle of deeper-bodied fish produced less force than that of shallow-bodied
saltmarsh fish. Nonetheless, saltmarsh fish had lower swimming performance, presumably
because of lower muscle mass overall coupled with smaller caudal peduncles and larger
heads. Saltmarsh fish performed better in saline water (20 ppt) relative to freshwater, and
relative to fish from freshwater habitats. However, exposure to salinity affected shoaling
behaviour of fish from all habitats, and shoals moved faster and closer together compared to
freshwater. We show that habitat modification can alter phenotypes of native species, but
local morphological specialisation is associated with trade-offs that may reduce its benefits.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 160316 |
Journal | Royal Society Open Science |
Volume | 3 |
Early online date | 1 Jun 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2016 |
Bibliographical note
This article has been accepted for publication in Royal Society Open Science. Full citation details will be uploaded when available.Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted
use, provided the original author and source are credited.
Keywords
- population
- locomotor performance
- salinity
- social behaviour
- muscle