Meeting Abstract

35.2  Monday, Jan. 5  The interaction of sexually and naturally selected traits in the adaptive radiations of cichlid fishes SALZBURGER, Walter; University of Basel, Switzerland walter.salzburger@unibas.ch

The question of how genetic variation translates into organismal diversity has puzzled biologists for decades. Despite recent advances in evolutionary and developmental genetics the mechanisms that underlie adaptation, diversification and evolutionary innovation remain largely unknown. The exceptionally diverse species flocks of cichlid fishes are textbook examples of adaptive radiation and explosive speciation and emerge as powerful model systems to study the genetic basis of animal diversification. East Africas hundreds of endemic cichlid species are akin to a natural mutagenesis screen and differ greatly in ecologically relevant, hence naturally selected, characters such as mouth morphology and body shape, but also in sexually selected traits such as coloration. Here, I will focus on two fitness-relevant traits, the pharyngeal jaw apparatus and anal fin egg dummies. I will discuss what is currently known about the genes underlying the morphogenesis of adaptively relevant traits and highlight the importance of the forthcoming cichlid genomes in the quest of the genetic basis of diversification in this group.