1 Laboratory of Functional and Evolutionary Morphology, – AFFISH Research Center, University of Li`ege, Li`ege, Belgium
2Laboratory of Oceanology – MARE Centre, University of Li`ege, Li`ege, Belgium
3 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´e de Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
The evolutionary history of Pomacentridae (damselfishes) is a rare example of the occur- rence of an iterative ecological radiation in the ocean. Damselfishes have experienced many repeated convergences wherein subclades radiated across similar trophic strategies (i.e. pelagic foragers, benthic feeders, and an intermediate group) and similar morphologies. The presence of evolutionary convergences in damselfishes was recently highlighted by the combination of ecological and morphological data, and the use of phylogenetic comparative methods. Never- theless, many other aspects of these replicated sets of lineages remain unexplored. For example, little is known about the functional diversity of assemblages including convergent lineages that emerged from iterative processes of ecological radiation, or which of the niche-related processes and phylogenetic conservatism are the major factors shaping these assemblages. Here, we con- ducted a quantitative comparison of these processes in damselfish assemblages that belong to three distinct Indo-Pacific coral reefs differing in taxonomic composition, morphology and de- gree of human disturbance. Using various metrics, we compared the functional diversity (based on a dataset of eight functional traits) and the isotopic diversity (a proxy of trophic diversity) among assemblages, grasping many aspects of the eco-functional diversity of Pomacentridae. We also tested whether these eco-functional traits displayed some evolutionary conservatism. Our results demonstrate that the eco-functional diversity of damselfishes follows similar patterns among Indo-Pacific coral reefs. The trophic space remains equivalent despite gradient in species richness, whereas the number of functional entities occupied by taxa dictates the size of the functional space. In each assemblage, eco-functional niches are highly differentiated and evenly distributed in spaces of similar size. The inconsistent phylogenetic structure of eco-functional traits suggests that the similarity in the diversity of damselfish assemblages is mainly driven by niche-based processes and not by phylogenetic relatedness. We suggest that a broader applica- tion of our approach will help to uncover the mechanisms of reef fish community assembly over space and time.
∗Speaker
New phylogenetic trees, evolutionary
history and global biogeographic patterns of coral reef fishes using all-species
phylogenetic trees
Mark Westneat ∗ 1
1University of Chicago – Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy Chicago, IL 60637, United States
Building large-scale phylogenies with all known species in various reef fish groups is now possible using a molecular backbone and a morphological trait matrix in tandem. New multi- locus molecular phylogenies built with 10 nuclear and mitochondrial genes, with many additional taxa added, advance our understanding of species-rich assemblages and aid in fine-scale time tree construction. All-species phylogenetic trees are presented for the Labridae (including the scarines and odacines), Chaetodontidae, Pomacanthidae and Pomacentridae. Anatomical char- acters play a key role in clade support and in placing rare taxa into the tree topology. The high resolution, species-level topologies for the three iconic reef fish families are used as a framework for mapping the evolutionary diversification of function and enhancing our understanding of biomechanical convergence in these groups. Finally, reconstructing global biogeographic pat- terns in the three families across major biogeographic provinces and from temperate to tropical seascapes show that these often sympatric fish groups show alternative patterns of phylogenetic dispersion history.
Origins of Hawaiian reef fauna: evidence from sister pairs of Pacific blennies
Michael Hoban ∗ 1, Randall Kosaki 2, Brian Bowen 1
1 Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) – 46-007 Lilipuna Rd Kaneohe, HI 96744, United States
2Papahnaumokukea Marine National Monument (PMNM) – NOAA/Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center NOS/ONMS/PMNM 1845 Wasp Blvd, Building 176 Honolulu, HI 96818, United States
All living inhabitants of the Hawaiian archipelago necessarily originate elsewhere, due to the volcanic history of the island arc. Two prominent hypotheses regarding the origins of Hawaiian marine species maintain that colonists arrive either from the south (via the Line Islands and Johnston Atoll) or from the west (via Japan). Previous research has shown that Hawaiian endemic limpets (genus *Cellana*) arrived from Japan 3 - 7 million years ago (Ma; Bird et al.
2011). Orange-band surgeonfish colonized from the Central Pacific about 0.5 Ma (Gaither et al. 2015), and butterflyfishes may have colonized from both the West Pacific and South Pacific (Craig et al. 2010). Hodge et al. (2014) resolved two waves of marine colonization into Hawaii at 0 - 3 Ma and 8 – 12 Ma. Finally, Andrews et al. (2014) report evidence for a colonization pathway from the south (Johnston Atoll) to the middle of the archipelago in the protected Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM). Here, we synthesize available data, and introduce a new data set based on endemic Hawaiian blennies (Blenniidae) compared to widespread sister species, in order to further elucidate the ages and origins of Hawaiian reef fauna. One emerging conclusion is that a dispersal corridor between the Line Islands / Johnston Atoll and the PMNM may constitute an important entry point for colonization into Hawaii, which provides insight into factors that promote and maintain endemic reef biodiversity.
∗Speaker
Phylogenetic diversity of New Zealand ray-finned fishes across depth and latitude.
David Eme ∗ 1, Libby Liggins 2, Elisabeth Myers 3, Clive Roberts 4, Carl Struthers 4, Salme Kortet 4, Jeremy Barker 4, Andrew Stewart 4, Marti
Anderson 3
1 New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study (NZIAS) – Massey University Albany campus, New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, E-center building, Gate 5, Oaklands Road, Massey University,
Albany, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
2 Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (INMS) – Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University, Albany campus, Private Bag 102904, North Shore Auckland 0745, New
Zealand, New Zealand
3 New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study (NZIAS) – Massey university, Albany campus, New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, E-center building, Gate 5, Oaklands Road, Massey University,
Albany, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
4 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) – Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, PO Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand, New Zealand
Knowledge regarding spatial patterns in marine biodiversity, including fishes, is mostly lim- ited to shallow waters which represent less than 10% of marine habitats. However, understanding the ecological/evolutionary processes shaping marine biodiversity requires including a third di- mension – depth. Difficulty in sampling deep oceanic areas means that our understanding of biodiversity patterns along the depth gradient is restricted to a few studies that are largely descriptions of species diversity. In general, these studies suggest that fish species diversity decreases with depth; or in some cases, species richness increases until a certain depth, and then decreases as ecological conditions become more stressful at greater depths (high pressure, limited productivity and ambient energy). However, despite these environmental constraints at depth, deep sea environments are larger, more homogeneous, and have been more stable through time than the shallow waters, potentially increasing the opportunity for long and diverse evo- lutionary histories in deep sea fishes. Therefore, documenting phylogenetic diversity patterns of fishes across depth may reveal striking patterns of primary importance to understanding the processes that have shaped marine biodiversity. Our research aim is to quantify phylogenetic diversity of New Zealand’s ray-finned fishes across depth (50–1200m) and latitude (21 degrees) using a robust, stratified, replicated survey of the fish community. In this talk, I will present our progress in exploring the likelihood of an increase in the phylogenetic diversity of fishes across depth. First, we have constructed a new time-calibrated molecular phylogeny based 70%
on New Zealand’s ray-finned fish species using our purpose-built pipeline that extracts DNA
different patterns of phylogenetic diversity inferred suggest that deep sea fish communities com- prise clusters of sister, or closely related taxa, which are widely spread through the phylogeny of New Zealand ray-finned fishes.
Phylogenetic perspectives on reef fish functional traits
Sergio Floeter ∗† 1, Mariana Bender 1, Alexandre Siqueira 2, Peter Cowman 2
1 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) – Depto. de Ecologia e Zoologia - CCB, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florian´opolis - SC, Brazil, 88040-900, Brazil
2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Functional traits have been fundamental to the evolution and diversification of entire fish lineages on coral reefs. Yet their relationship with the processes promoting speciation, extinction and the filtering of local species pools remains unclear. We review the current literature exploring the evolution of diet, body size, water column use and geographic range size in reef-associated fishes. Using published and new data, we mapped functional traits on to published phylogenetic trees to uncover evolutionary patterns that have led to the current functional diversity of fishes on coral reefs. When examining reconstructed patterns for diet and feeding mode, we found examples of independent transitions to planktivory across different reef fish families. Such transitions and associated morphological alterations may represent cases in which ecological opportunity for the exploitation of different resources drives speciation and adaptation. In terms of body size, reconstructions showed that both large and small sizes appear multiple times within clades of mid-sized fishes and that extreme body sizes have arisen mostly in the last 10 million years (Myr). The reconstruction of range size revealed many cases of disparate range sizes among sister species. Such range size disparity highlights potential vicariant processes through isolation in peripheral locations. When accounting for peripheral speciation processes in sister pairs, we found a significant relationship between labrid range size and lineage age. The diversity and evolution of traits within lineages is influenced by trait–environment interactions as well as by species and trait–trait interactions, where the presence of a given trait may trigger the development of related traits or behaviours. Our effort to assess the evolution of functional diversity across reef fish clades adds to the burgeoning research focusing on the evolutionary and ecological roles of functional traits. We argue that the combination of a phylogenetic and a functional approach will improve the understanding of the mechanisms of species assembly in extraordinarily rich coral reef communities.
Phylogeography, Biogeography, and the Origins of Indo-Pacific Reef Fishes