1 / 25

Ecomorphology

Delve into the fascinating world of ecomorphology, studying how an organism's structure is linked to its ecological niche. Topics include swimming ability in relation to habitat preference, trophic ecomorphology, anti-predation anatomy, and niche partitioning strategies among fishes. Discover how fish morphology influences their survival and competition strategies in diverse aquatic environments.

erimentha
Download Presentation

Ecomorphology

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Ecomorphology Relationships between morphology and life history

  2. Ecomorphology • Studying morphology and how it relates to ecology

  3. Ecomorphology • Swimming ability & habitat • Trophic ecomorphology • Anti-predation anatomy

  4. Swimming ability • Body shape • Dorsal/anal Fin placement and length • Caudal fin • Keeled body

  5. Swimming ability

  6. Habitat preference • Where in the water column a fish lives • Benthic • Mid-water • Top-water • What type of general habitat • Lentic – Low current, lakes & ponds • Lotic – Moving water, streams & rivers

  7. Benthic Fishes

  8. Benthic fishes

  9. Mid-water fishes

  10. Mid-water fishes

  11. Top-water fishes

  12. Top-water fishes

  13. Trophic ecomorphology • Gill rakers • Mouth • Pharyngeal teeth • Swimming ability

  14. Gill Rakers

  15. Mouth size

  16. Mouth structure

  17. Anti-predation morphology

  18. Anti-predation morphology

  19. Niche partitioning • Niche – Optimal Vs. Realized • One or more resources • Fish with a similar body structure may still utilize different resources • e.g., Lepomis and Etheostoma • Helps to reduce competition • Increases diversity

  20. Niche partitioning • All look alike, what would you expect to be the life history of this group? • How can they co-exist? • Use different habitats – depth, current, substrate, longitudinal section of stream/river • Feed on different food types • Feed on different food sizes • Perhaps reducing competition

  21. Niche Partitioning Sunfish • Examples of niche partitioning • E. flabellare = widest mouth, trophic generalist, slower currents • Fantail darter • E. podostemone = feed mostly on chironomid larvae • P. roanoka = smaller mouth, trophic generalist, swift current

  22. E. blennioides E. flabellare E. nigrum

More Related