Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 19 September 1997:
Vol. 277. no. 5333, pp. 1808 - 1811
DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5333.1808
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

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

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Environment-dependent use of mate choice cues in sticklebacks.
J. Heuschele, M. Mannerla, P. Gienapp, and U. Candolin (2009)
Behav. Ecol. 20, 1223-1227
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Threats to Freshwater Fish.
A. E. Magurran (2009)
Science 325, 1215-1216
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Pleistocene desiccation in East Africa bottlenecked but did not extirpate the adaptive radiation of Lake Victoria haplochromine cichlid fishes.
K. R. Elmer, C. Reggio, T. Wirth, E. Verheyen, W. Salzburger, and A. Meyer (2009)
PNAS 106, 13404-13409
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Color polymorphism and intrasexual competition in assemblages of cichlid fish.
P. D. Dijkstra, C. Hemelrijk, O. Seehausen, and T. G.G. Groothuis (2009)
Behav. Ecol. 20, 138-144
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Comparative visual function in five sciaenid fishes inhabiting Chesapeake Bay.
A. Z. Horodysky, R. W. Brill, E. J. Warrant, J. A. Musick, and R. J. Latour (2008)
J. Exp. Biol. 211, 3601-3612
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Does divergence in female mate choice affect male size distributions in two cave fish populations?.
M. Tobler, I. Schlupp, and M. Plath (2008)
Biol Lett 4, 452-454
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Disruptive sexual selection on male nuptial coloration in an experimental hybrid population of cichlid fish.
R. B Stelkens, M. E.R Pierotti, D. A Joyce, A. M Smith, I. van der Sluijs, and O. Seehausen (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 2861-2870
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Environment-contingent sexual selection in a colour polymorphic fish.
S. M Gray, L. M Dill, F. Y Tantu, E. R Loew, F. Herder, and J. S McKinnon (2008)
Proc R Soc B 275, 1785-1791
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Prey detection by great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) in clear and in turbid water.
T. Strod, I. Izhaki, Z. Arad, and G. Katzir (2008)
J. Exp. Biol. 211, 866-872
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Intrasexual competition among females and the stabilization of a conspicuous colour polymorphism in a Lake Victoria cichlid fish.
P. D Dijkstra, O. Seehausen, and T. G.G Groothuis (2008)
Proc R Soc B 275, 519-526
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dusk light environment optimizes visual perception of conspecifics in a crepuscular horned beetle.
M. Thery, S. Pincebourde, and F. Feer (2008)
Behav. Ecol.
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Individual variation in male mating preferences for female coloration in a polymorphic cichlid fish.
M. E.R. Pierotti, M. E. Knight, S. Immler, N. J. Barson, G. F. Turner, and O. Seehausen (2008)
Behav. Ecol.
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Female mating preferences for male morphological traits used in species and mate recognition in the Mexican sailfin mollies, Poecilia velifera and Poecilia petenensis.
H. L. Kozak, L. A. Cirino, and M. B. Ptacek (2008)
Behav. Ecol.
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Preference polymorphism for coloration but no speciation in a population of Lake Victoria cichlids.
I. van der Sluijs, J. J.M. van Alphen, and O. Seehausen (2008)
Behav. Ecol. 19, 177-183
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ecological consequences of early Late Pleistocene megadroughts in tropical Africa.
A. S. Cohen, J. R. Stone, K. R. M. Beuning, L. E. Park, P. N. Reinthal, D. Dettman, C. A. Scholz, T. C. Johnson, J. W. King, M. R. Talbot, et al. (2007)
PNAS 104, 16422-16427
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Gene Flow between Species of Lake Victoria Haplochromine Fishes.
I. E. Samonte, Y. Satta, A. Sato, H. Tichy, N. Takahata, and J. Klein (2007)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 24, 2069-2080
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Body size evolution simultaneously creates and collapses species boundaries in a clade of scincid lizards.
J. Q Richmond and E. L Jockusch (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 1701-1708
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Early learning influences species assortative mating preferences in Lake Victoria cichlid fish.
M. N Verzijden and C. ten Cate (2007)
Biol Lett 3, 134-136
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sensory ecology and perceptual allocation: new prospects for neural networks.
S. M Phelps (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 355-367
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Human-induced water turbidity alters selection on sexual displays in sticklebacks.
J. Engstrom-Ost and U. Candolin (2007)
Behav. Ecol. 18, 393-398
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sexual selection drives speciation in an Amazonian frog.
K. E Boul, W Chris Funk, C. R Darst, D. C Cannatella, and M. J Ryan (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 399-406
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Fitness correlates of male coloration in a Lake Victoria cichlid fish.
M. E. Maan, M. van der Spoel, P. Q. Jimenez, J. J.M. van Alphen, and O. Seehausen (2006)
Behav. Ecol. 17, 691-699
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
African cichlid fish: a model system in adaptive radiation research.
O. Seehausen (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 1987-1998
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Possible human impacts on adaptive radiation: beak size bimodality in Darwin's finches.
A. P Hendry, P. R Grant, B Rosemary Grant, H. A Ford, M. J Brewer, and J. Podos (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 1887-1894
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Alteration of the chemical environment disrupts communication in a freshwater fish.
H. S Fisher, B. B.M Wong, and G. G Rosenthal (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 1187-1193
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Lonely hearts or sex in the city? Density-dependent effects in mating systems.
H. Kokko and D. J Rankin (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc B 361, 319-334
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Colour-assortative mating among populations of Tropheus moorii, a cichlid fish from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa.
W. Salzburger, H. Niederstatter, A. Brandstatter, B. Berger, W. Parson, J. Snoeks, and C. Sturmbauer (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 257-266
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Shallow mtDNA Coalescence in Atlantic Pygmy Angelfishes (Genus Centropyge) Indicates a Recent Invasion from the Indian Ocean.
B. W. Bowen, A. Muss, L. A. Rocha, and W. S. Grant (2006)
J. Hered. 97, 1-12
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Female preference for conspecific males based on olfactory cues in a Lake Malawi cichlid fish.
M. Plenderleith, C. v. Oosterhout, R. L Robinson, and G. F Turner (2005)
Biol Lett 1, 411-414
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
cimp1, A Novel Astacin Family Metalloproteinase Gene from East African Cichlids, Is Differentially Expressed Between Species During Growth.
T. Kijimoto, M. Watanabe, K. Fujimura, M. Nakazawa, Y. Murakami, S. Kuratani, Y. Kohara, T. Gojobori, and N. Okada (2005)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 22, 1649-1660
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Adaptive Molecular Evolution in the Opsin Genes of Rapidly Speciating Cichlid Species.
T. C. Spady, O. Seehausen, E. R. Loew, R. C. Jordan, T. D. Kocher, and K. L. Carleton (2005)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 22, 1412-1422
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The effect of substrate on the efficacy of seismic courtship signal transmission in the jumping spider Habronattus dossenus (Araneae: Salticidae).
D. O. Elias, A. C. Mason, and R. R. Hoy (2004)
J. Exp. Biol. 207, 4105-4110
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Comment on "Origin of the Superflock of Cichlid Fishes from Lake Victoria, East Africa".
J. C. Stager, J. J. Day, and S. Santini (2004)
Science 304, 963b
   Full Text »    PDF »
How does Behavior Change the Brain? Multiple Methods to Answer Old Questions.
R. D. Fernald (2003)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 43, 771-779
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Divergent selection during speciation of Lake Malawi cichlid fishes inferred from parallel radiations in nuptial coloration.
C. J. Allender, O. Seehausen, M. E. Knight, G. F. Turner, and N. Maclean (2003)
PNAS 100, 14074-14079
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The complexity of alternative splicing of hagoromo mRNAs is increased in an explosively speciated lineage in East African cichlids.
Y. Terai, N. Morikawa, K. Kawakami, and N. Okada (2003)
PNAS 100, 12798-12803
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Avoiding a compromise between sexual selection and species recognition: female swordtail fish assess multiple species-specific cues.
S. J. Hankison and M. R. Morris (2003)
Behav. Ecol. 14, 282-287
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Genetic Evidence for Local Retention of Pelagic Larvae in a Caribbean Reef Fish.
M. S. Taylor and M. E. Hellberg (2003)
Science 299, 107-109
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Natural Selection of the Rhodopsin Gene During the Adaptive Radiation of East African Great Lakes Cichlid Fishes.
T. Sugawara, Y. Terai, and N. Okada (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 1807-1811
   Full Text »    PDF »
Accelerated Evolution of the Surface Amino Acids in the WD-Repeat Domain Encoded by the hagoromo Gene in an Explosively Speciated Lineage of East African Cichlid Fishes.
Y. Terai, N. Morikawa, K. Kawakami, and N. Okada (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 574-578
   Full Text »    PDF »
Color patterns and species recognition in four closely related species of Lake Malawi cichlid.
V. C. K. Couldridge and G. J. Alexander (2002)
Behav. Ecol. 13, 59-64
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cone Opsin Genes of African Cichlid Fishes: Tuning Spectral Sensitivity by Differential Gene Expression.
K. L. Carleton and T. D. Kocher (2001)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 18, 1540-1550
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Sexual conflict promotes speciation in insects.
G. Arnqvist, M. Edvardsson, U. Friberg, and T. Nilsson (2000)
PNAS 97, 10460-10464
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Phylogeny of a rapidly evolving clade: The cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi, East Africa.
R. C. Albertson, J. A. Markert, P. D. Danley, and T. D. Kocher (1999)
PNAS 96, 5107-5110
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sexual Selection and Sensory Exploitation.
P. W. Sherman, H. K. Reeve;, and M. J. Ryan; (1999)
Science 283, 1083a-1083
   Full Text »
Sexual Selection, Receiver Biases, and the Evolution of Sex Differences.
M. J. Ryan (1998)
Science 281, 1999-2003
   Abstract »    Full Text »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)