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Character displacement in sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna: allozymes and behavior

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We analyzed variation in allozymes and mating preferences in 12 populations across much of the range of the sailfin molly, Poecilia latipinna. Sailfin mollies can be sympatric with its sexual parasite Amazon mollies, P. formosa. Amazon mollies must co-exist and mate with bisexual males of closely related species (including sailfin mollies) to induce embryogenesis but inheritance is strictly maternal. Where sailfin and Amazon mollies are sympatric there is evidence of reproductive character displacement as males show a significantly stronger mating preference for sailfin molly females over Amazon mollies compared to preferences of males from allopatric populations. From the allozyme data we found a moderate amount of genetic variation across all populations but this variation did not reveal significant partitioning between sympatric and allopatric populations. Additionally, we found no evidence for isolation by distance as genetic distance was not significantly correlated with geographic distance. While allozyme variation also did not significantly correlate with male mating preferences, there was a significant correlation between male mating preferences and geographic distance. This correlation between mating preferences and geographic distance may have arisen from coevolution with Amazon mollies resulting in reproductive character displacement. Taken together, the distribution of genetic and behavioral variation among sympatric and allopatric populations suggests that behavioral evolution has outpaced evolution at the allozyme loci we examined in P. latipinna.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Aspbury, L. Dries, L. Higgins, C. Nice, and J. Ott for helpful discussion concerning this research. L. Dries, L. Higgins, J. Krejca, C. Papp, and I. Schlupp are thanked for helping to collect fishes. We also thank F. Aboudi and J. Stahl for preparing fishes for allozyme analyses and J. Cruchfield at Brackenridge Field Laboratory for use of their facilities for maintaining fishes. Research was fully supported by funds from National Science Foundation Post-doctoral Research Fellowship grant DBI-9750278 to C.R.G. C.R.G. was also supported by Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Advanced Research Program grant # 003615-0004-2001 during manuscript preparation. We also thank the Mexican Government for permission to collect these fishes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 7866, U.S.A

    Caitlin R. Gabor

  2. Section of Integrative Biology, C0930, University of Texas, Austin, TX, 78712, U.S.A

    Michael J. Ryan

  3. Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas M.D., Science Park, Research Division, 389, Smithville, TX, 78957, U.S.A

    Donald C. Morizot

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  1. Caitlin R. Gabor
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Correspondence to Caitlin R. Gabor.

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Gabor, C.R., Ryan, M.J. & Morizot, D.C. Character displacement in sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna: allozymes and behavior. Environ Biol Fish 73, 75–88 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-004-5354-3

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