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Fish scale shape follows predictable patterns of variation based on water column position, body size, and phylogeny

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Abstract

The influence of environment and phylogeny on morphological characteristics of organisms is well documented. However, little is known about how these factors influence scale shape in fishes, a feature which may be important for drag reduction. We evaluated the impact of both on scale shape variation in the primarily benthic, riverine darter clade (Percidae: Etheostomatinae) of fishes. We predicted that darters with close phylogenetic relationships and/or shared ecologies would have more similar scale shapes, but this relationship would be mediated by use of the substrate boundary layer. We used geometric morphometrics and seven homologous landmarks for 92 species of darters representing all genera and 37 clades within genera to measure scale shape. Phylogenetic relationships and ecological variables describing habitat, spawning mode, and maximum body size of each species were summarized from the literature. We used ordinations to examine scale shape variation among phylogenetic and ecological groups. We conducted Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares analyses to test for relationships between scale shape and ecological characteristics. Scale shape variation occurred within and among darter clades, and was significantly related to phylogeny. However, we found divergent scale shapes between close relatives and similar scale shapes between distantly related species. After accounting for phylogenetic signal, size and water column position were related to scale shape. Extra-large, hyperbenthic species had longer, narrower scales that may decrease laminar drag. Sub-benthic darters had scales that were narrower at the insertion, and with enlarged ctenial margins that may facilitate burying. Among benthic darters, size was significantly related to scale shape though a lack of clustering among many taxonomic and ecological groups may indicate that boundary layer use has reduced selective pressures from drag. Our results are consistent with others that have found both environment and phylogeny influence Teleost fish morphology.

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Data availability

Upon acceptance to journal, any data which supports the findings of this study will be deposited in Dryad.

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Code will be available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank multiple natural history collections for the specimen loans used in this research including the APSU (Austin Peay State University) David H. Snyder Museum of Zoology Fish Collection, the University of Tennessee Etnier Ichthyological Collection, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ Ichthyology Collection, the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection at the Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute, the University of Alabama Ichthyological Collection, the Moorehead State University Collection of Fishes, and the Illinois Natural History Survey Fish Collection and especially their respective collections managers and curators. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (DBI-1349391), the Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay State University, and the Society for Freshwater Science. We also thank those who aided our specimen and data collection in several ways including Nastasia Disotell, Dr. Larry Page, Josh Stonecipher, Brooke Washburn, Nicholas Grady, Dr. David Eisenhour (Morehead State University), Lynn Eisenhour, Dr. Michael Doosey, Meg Doosey, Cortney Weyand, Bailey Rodkey, and Dr. Sarah Lundin-Schiller (APSU).

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  1. Center of Excellence for Biology, Austin Peay State University, Sundquist Science Complex, P.O. Box 4718, Clarksville, TN, 37044, USA

    Jessica T. Grady, C. M. Gienger & Rebecca E. Blanton

  2. U.S. Geological Survey South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA

    Luke M. Bower

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [JTG] and [LMB]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [JTG] and [REB] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Grady, J.T., Bower, L.M., Gienger, C.M. et al. Fish scale shape follows predictable patterns of variation based on water column position, body size, and phylogeny. Evol Ecol 36, 93–116 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-021-10142-9

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