Department Fish Ecology and Evolution

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Multispecies colour polymorphisms associated with contrasting microhabitats in two Mediterranean wrasse radiations

April 5, 2022

Sarya, Ole and colleagues studied Mediterranean wrasses of the tribe Labrini which evolved two species radiations each harbouring several species with a brown and a green morph.

The colour morphs occur in complete sympatry in mosaic habitats with rocky outcrops and Neptune grass patches. With genome-wide data for almost all Labrini species, we show that species with colour polymorphisms are distributed across the phylogeny, but show evidence of hybridization. This suggests that the colour morphs are either ancient and have been lost repeatedly, that they have evolved repeatedly or have been shared via hybridization.

Original publication

Fark, S. N., Gerber, S., Alonzo, S. H., Kindsvater, H. K., Meier, J. I., & Seehausen, O. (2022). Multispecies colour polymorphisms associated with contrasting microhabitats in two Mediterranean wrasse radiations. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. doi:10.1111/jeb.13999,