Speciation through sensory drive in cichlid fish

By Ole Seehausen, Y. Terai, I. S. Magalhaes, K. Carleton, H. Mrosso, Ryutaro Miyagi, I. Sluijs, M. Schneider, M. Maan, H. Tachida and 2 more. Nature, 2008

1,102 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Theoretically, divergent selection on sensory systems can cause speciation through sensory drive. However, empirical evidence is rare and incomplete. Here we demonstrate sensory drive speciation within island populations of cichlid fish. We identify the ecological and molecular basis of divergent evolution in the cichlid visual system, demonstrate associated divergence in male colouration and female preferences, and show subsequent differentiation at neutral loci, indicating reproductive isolation. Evidence is replicated in several pairs of sympatric populations and species. Variation in the slope of the environmental gradients explains variation in the progress towards speciation: speciation occurs on all but the steepest gradients. This is the most complete demonstration so far of speciation through sensory drive without geographical isolation. Our results also provide a mechanistic explanation for the collapse of cichlid fish species diversity during the anthropogenic eutrophication of Lake Victoria.

Subfields: Ecology, Environmental Chemistry, Genetics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0bc118d9acea9360e14090c62c26cbfdf5e5381b

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Citations in the corpus

New insights on early evolution of spiny-rayed fishes (Teleostei: Acanthomorpha) (2014, background): “…abundant research in evolutionary developmental biology, speciation and behavior (cichlids and sticklebacks) (e.g., Kocher, 2004; Shapiro et al., 2004; Seehausen et al., 2008; Huntingford and Ruiz-Gomez, 2009; Chen and Mayden, 2010; Jones et al., 2012; Muschick et al., 2012; Irschick et al., 2013).”
Isolation by environment (2014, background): “Such is the case with some cichlids (Seehausen et al. 2008) and sticklebacks (Bough-”
Multimodal communication of wolf spiders on different substrates: evidence for behavioural plasticity (2011, background): “…species have evolved signals that function best in specific environments by matching signals and transmission characteristics of the environment (Fleishman 1992; Endler & Thery 1996; Macedonia 2001; Boughman 2002; Gray et al. 2008; Seehausen et al. 2008; Cocroft et al. 2010; Elias et al. 2010).”
On the role of male competition in speciation: a review and research agenda (2018, background): “These species are sympatric but inhabit different depth ranges with corresponding differences in light environment, which likely led to divergence in visual sensitivity and male nuptial coloration, and ultimately to speciation (Seehausen et al. 2008; Seehausen 2015; Maan et al. 2017).”
Female mating preferences and male coloration covary with water transparency in a Lake Victoria cichlid fish (2010, background): “Indeed, red phenotypes are rare in Pundamilia populations that inhabit even murkier waters (Seehausen et al., 2008).”
Communication in troubled waters: responses of fish communication systems to changing environments (2011, background): “…of fish communication, focused on evolutionary diversification, tend to emphasize visual signals associated with choosing or competing for mates (e.g., cichlids, sticklebacks, guppies; Endler 1983; Seehausen et al. 1997; Boughman 2001; Albert et al. 2007; Kemp et al. 2008; Seehausen et al. 2008).”
Reproductive isolation and the causes of speciation rate variation in nature (2016, background): “, 2009) Reproductive isolation Evolution of biological traits that reduce gene flow between populations Reproductive isolation, mediated by mating preferences and male colour phenotypes, evolves rapidly between populations of Lake Victoria cichlid fishes (Seehausen et al., 2008).”
Ecological explanations for (incomplete) speciation. (2009, methodology): “Similarly, female mating preferencefor malecolorin cichlidsisaffectedby divergencein a color vision gene [ 12 ,15].”
Detecting loci under selection in a hierarchically structured population (2009, background): “There are actually several examples of loci having recently responded to selection, where allele frequency differences between populations are restricted to a few kb around the selected site (see for example, Turner and Hahn, 2007; Seehausen et al., 2008; Wood et al., 2008).”
The Role of Parasitism in Adaptive Radiations—When Might Parasites Promote and When Might They Constrain Ecological Speciation? (2012, background): “One likely mechanism driving speciation involves evolution in the visual system and of visual signals in response to heterogeneous light conditions, and its effects on mate choice and speciation through mechanisms related to sensory drive [10].”
Ecology and Evolution of the African Great Lakes and Their Faunas (2014, background): “To what extent sexual selection alone can lead to speciation is a matter of debate, because it usually interacts with natural selection (Salzburger 2009, Seehausen et al. 2008).”
Sounds of male Lake Victoria cichlids vary within and between species and affect female mate preferences (2010, background): “Especially in the East African lakes, many closely related species occur in sympatry, and several studies have addressed species-specific mate preferences based on visual (Genner and Turner 2005; Seehausen et al. 2008) and chemical (Plenderleith et al.”
The integrative future of taxonomy (2010, background): “Also, differences in a coding vision gene can affect female mating preferences and initiate lineage divergence in fish [78].”
Parasite diversity, patterns of MHC II variation and olfactory based mate choice in diverging three-spined stickleback ecotypes (2011, background): “2001; Podos 2001) and, except in cichlids with their polymorphic long wavelengthsensitve opsin gene (Seehausen et al. 2008), the genetic basis of magic traits is largely unknown.”