Abstract
The bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) is considered a generalist predator, adept at feeding in both the littoral and open-water habitats of North American freshwater lakes. We demonstrate adaptive intraspecific variation in morphology and foraging behaviors within single lakes. This variation appears to make individual fish specialized for feeding in either the littoral or open-water habitat. Discovery of a complex polymorphism in such a well-studied species suggests that adaptive variation may be more common than is currently perceived.
Keywords: osteichthyes: Centrarchidae, behavior, morphology, intraspecific variation
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Werner T. K., Sherry T. W. Behavioral feeding specialization in Pinaroloxias inornata, the "Darwin's Finch" of Cocos Island, Costa Rica. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Aug;84(15):5506–5510. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.15.5506. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- West-Eberhard M. J. Alternative adaptations, speciation, and phylogeny (A Review). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Mar;83(5):1388–1392. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.5.1388. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]