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Body shape variation and colour change during growth in a protogynous fish

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Abstract

Protogynous sequential hermaphroditism is very common in marine fish. Despite a large number of studies on various aspects of sequential hermaphroditism in fish, the relationship between body shape and colour during growth in dichromatic species has not been assessed. Using geometric morphometrics, the present study explores the relationship between growth, body shape and colouration in Coris julis (L. 1758), a small protogynous labrid species with distinct colour phases. Results show that body shape change during growth is independent of change in colour phase, a result which can be explained by the biology of the species and by the social control of sex change. Also, during growth the body grows deeper and the head has a steeper profile. It is hypothesized that a deeper body and a steeper profile might have a function in agonistic interactions between terminal phase males and that the marked chromatic difference between colour phases allows the lack of strict interdependence of body shape and colour during growth.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the precious contribution of F. James Rohlf who provided many useful suggestions at multiple stages. Enrico Arneri, Ferdinando Boero, G. Andrea de Lucia, Paolo Domenici, Maria Ghelia, Paolo Guidetti, Miquel Palmer, Sergio Ragonese, Alfonso Toscano and Nedo Vrgoc kindly helped in obtaining specimens used in the analysis.

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  1. Carmelo Fruciano

    Present address: Laboratory for Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biology—University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Sezione di Biologia animale “Marcello La Greca”—University of Catania, via Androne 81, 95124, Catania, Italy

    Carmelo Fruciano, Concetta Tigano & Venera Ferrito

Authors
  1. Carmelo Fruciano
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  2. Concetta Tigano
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  3. Venera Ferrito
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Correspondence to Carmelo Fruciano.

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Supplementary Fig. S1

Parallel coordinate plot of the first ten relative warps for all the studied specimens. Yellow = primary, blue = transition, pink = secondary. The plot shows a considerable overlap of the morphospace portions occupied by each colour phase (PDF 24 kb)

Supplementary Fig. S2

Parallel coordinate plot of the first ten relative warps. For each colour phase only the quartiles are shown to highlight the degree of overlap among groups. Yellow = primary, blue = transition, pink = secondary. The plot shows that the overlap in morphospace occupation of primary, transitional and secondary individuals is not caused by a few outliers but it is evident even considering only the quartiles of the relative warps of each colour phase (PDF 15 kb)

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Fruciano, C., Tigano, C. & Ferrito, V. Body shape variation and colour change during growth in a protogynous fish. Environ Biol Fish 94, 615–622 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-011-9968-y

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