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An empirical test for convergence using African barbs (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae)

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Abstract

Evidence for convergence is often based on overall similarity as interpreted by human eyes. We use geometric morphometrics and an analysis of phylogenetic signal to determine if similarity in form between two sympatric species of cyprinid fishes in a community from the Dja River of Cameroon is due convergence or shared evolutionary history. The two species, Enteromius aspilus and E. guirali, are deep-bodied and are very similar in color and appear to school together. The species co-occur with seven other species of Enteromius that have the more fusiform shape seen in other small barbs across Africa. Phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b and COI genes suggests that they are not sister taxa, and there is no phylogenetic signal when the phylogeny is overlaid on shape space. The convergence between the two is likely due to a variety of factors including predator avoidance and crypsis in open water, social mimicry to increase the benefit of the selfish herd effect, and increased protection of E. aspilus via Batesian mimicry of E. guirali, which has a protective dorsal spine.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Nicole Smolensky for arranging and aiding with fieldwork in Cameroon and John Friel, Kirk Winemeiller, and Lee Fitzgerald for help in the field. Thanks to the Armbruster lab for discussions on this paper, and Milton Tan with aid in phylogenetic analyses. This paper was supported by the United States National Science Foundation “All Cypriniformes Species Inventory”: Grant (DEB-1023403). This paper is contribution No. 720 of the Auburn University Museum of Natural History.

Author contributions

J.W.A, C.C.S., and M.M.H. conceived of and wrote the paper. C.C.S. and M.M.H. performed the molecular analyses, and J.W.A. performed the geometric morphometric analyses. J.W.A. and C.C.S. did the fieldwork in Cameroon.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, 331 Funchess, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Jonathan W. Armbruster, Carla C. Stout & Malorie M. Hayes

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  1. Jonathan W. Armbruster
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  2. Carla C. Stout
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  3. Malorie M. Hayes
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Correspondence to Jonathan W. Armbruster.

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Fig. S1

Direction of shape changes in the multivariate analyses of geometric morphometrics. The PC axes were identical for analyses with all species (‘All Species’ on plots) and just those for which genetic data were available (‘Genetics’). Wireframes represent the consensus configuration (gray) and the extreme positive configuration (black) in order to show which landmarks show the most variation along the axes (TIFF 47851 kb)

Fig. S2

Phylogenetic relationships of Enteromius based on a Bayesian Analysis of concatenated cytochrome b and COI data. Numbers on nodes indicate posterior probabilities and asterisks are posterior probabilities >95 %. Taxa in red are species from the Dja that were retained for the test of phylogenetic signal (relationships in Fig. 4). Scale bar represents the number of nucleotide substitutions per site (TIFF 19187 kb)

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Armbruster, J.W., Stout, C.C. & Hayes, M.M. An empirical test for convergence using African barbs (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae). Evol Ecol 30, 435–450 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-015-9811-6

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