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Parallel evolution of profundal Arctic charr morphs in two contrasting fish communities

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A population of small-sized Arctic charr living their entire life cycle in deep water was recently found in Lake Skogsfjordvatn, Northern Norway. Their phenotype and life history closely resembles the profundal charr morph in another subarctic Norwegian lake, Fjellfrøsvatn. Fjellfrøsvatn has one littoral omnivorous and one small profundal benthivorous (PB) charr morph coexisting with brown trout, whereas Skogsfjordvatn has migratory salmon, trout, charr and eel populations in addition to threespined sticklebacks, resident trout and three resident charr morphs of which one is a large piscivorous profundal morph. We predicted that the small profundal charr morph in Skogsfjordvatn would have a similar trophic niche to the PB-morph in Fjellfrøsvatn and tested this by using stomach content and stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) analyses. Profundal benthic invertebrates, mainly chironomid larvae, Pisidium sp. mussels and small crustaceans, dominated the diets, and the δ13C and δ15N values indicated almost identical long-term trophic niches of the PB-morphs in both lakes. The prediction was therefore supported. This seems to indicate that the small profundal Arctic charr morphs in these lakes have evolved in parallel, in nearly identical and stable habitat and dietary niches in spite of likely different ecological interactions within the contrasting fish communities.

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Acknowledgments

We thank our Department Engineers: Cesilie Bye, Laina Dalsbø and Karin S. Johannessen for their work in the field and the lab and Marie Gabler, Kristin Johansen, Bjørn S. Knudsen, Are Mo, Sigrid Skoglund, Aslak Smalås and John F. Strøm for their work in the field. We also thank the Guest Editor Colin E. Adams and the Associate Editor Michael Power for their recommendations, and the anonymous referees for very constructive and helpful reviews.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Langnes, P.O. Box 6050, 9037, Tromsø, Norway

    Rune Knudsen, Per-Arne Amundsen, Anna Siwertsson & Anders Klemetsen

  2. Aquatic Ecology Department, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research -NINA, Sluppen, P.O. Box 5685, 7485, Trondheim, Norway

    Antti P. Eloranta

  3. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Antti P. Eloranta

  4. Biology Department, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3, Canada

    Brian Hayden

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  1. Rune Knudsen
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Correspondence to Rune Knudsen.

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Guest editors: M. Power, R. Knudsen, C. Adams, M. J. Hansen, J. B. Dempson, M. Jobling & M. Ferguson / Advances in Charr Ecology and Evolution

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Knudsen, R., Amundsen, PA., Eloranta, A.P. et al. Parallel evolution of profundal Arctic charr morphs in two contrasting fish communities. Hydrobiologia 783, 239–248 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2647-4

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