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Science 19 September 1997:
Vol. 277. no. 5333, pp. 1808 - 1811
DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5333.1808
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Reports

Cichlid Fish Diversity Threatened by Eutrophication That Curbs Sexual Selection

Ole Seehausen, * Jacques J. M. van Alphen, Frans Witte

Cichlid fish species of Lake Victoria can interbreed without loss of fertility but are sexually isolated by mate choice. Mate choice is determined on the basis of coloration, and strong assortative mating can quickly lead to sexual isolation of color morphs. Dull fish coloration, few color morphs, and low species diversity are found in areas that have become turbid as a result of recent eutrophication. By constraining color vision, turbidity interferes with mate choice, relaxes sexual selection, and blocks the mechanism of reproductive isolation. In this way, human activities that increase turbidity destroy both the mechanism of diversification and that which maintains diversity.

Institute of Evolutionary and Ecological Sciences, University of Leiden, Post Office Box 9516, NL-2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: seehausen{at}rulsfb.leidenuniv.nl

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