Synopsis
The shapes of juveniles of nine species of the family Sparidae (Diplodus annularis, Diplodus puntazzo, Diplodus sargus, Diplodus vulgaris, Lithognathus mormyrus, Pagellus acarne, Sarpa salpa, Sparus aurata, Spondyliosoma cantharus), collected in the tide channel of the Caprolace Lagoon (Central Tyrrhenian Sea—Italy) were studied using geometric morphometry. These species have different ecologies. The trophic ecology of each species, reported as TROPH values, are related to shape. For the first time the relationship between shape and trophic ecology in sparids was studied in a quantitative way giving an ecomorphological meaning to the shape differences. Mean shapes of carnivorous, omnivorous and herbivorous fish were extracted, analyzed and found to be unique. Strict herbivores such as Sarpa salpa have a small mouth gap; omnivores such as the four species of the genus Diplodus have a higher body (discoidal) and a caudal peduncle shorter and higher; carnivorous species such as Lithognathus mormyrus, possess a relatively larger head region, a larger mouth gap, a longer body and a caudal peduncle longer and narrower.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Alexander RMcN (1988) The scope and aims of functional and ecological morphology. Netherlands J Zool 38(1):3–22
Bookstein FL (1991) Morphometric tools for landmark data. Cambridge Univ. Press, p 435
Blake RW (1983) Functional design and burst-and-coast swimming in fishes. Can J Zool 61(11):2491–2494
Breder CM (1926) The locomotion of fishes. Zoologica 4:159–297
Cadrin SX (2000) Advances in morphometric identification of fishery stock. Rev Fish Biol Fisher 10:91–112
Carpenter KE (1996) Morphometric pattern and feeding mode in emperor fishes (Lethrinidae, Perciformes). In: Marcus LF, Corti M, Loy A, Naylor GJP, Slice DE (eds) Advances in morphometrics. NATO ASI series. Plenum Press, New York, pp 479–487
Cavalcanti MJ, Monteiro LR, Duarte Lopes PR (1999) Landmark-based morphometric analysis in selected species of serranid fishes (Perciformes: Teleostei). Zool Stud 38(3):287–294
Cutwa MM, Turingan RG (2000) Intralocality variation in feeding biomechanics and prey use in Archosargus probatocephalus (Teleostei, Sparidae), with implications for the ecomorphology of fishes. Environ Biol Fishes 59:191–198
Domanevskaya MV, Patokina FA (1984) Feeding of the large-eyed dogtooth, Dentex macrophthalmus, and Spanish bream, Pagellus acarne, from the entral-Eastern Atlantic Ocean.J Ichthyol 24(5):107–112
Dryden IL, Mardia KV (1998) Statistical shape analysis. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, England, pp 347
Ehlinger TJ (1990) Habitat choice and phenotype-limited feeding efficiency in bluegill: individual differences and trophic polymorphism. Ecology 71(3):886–896
Guill JM, Hood CS, Heins DC (2003) Body shape variation within and among three species of darters (Perciformes: Percidae). Ecol Freshwater Fish 12:134–140
Hanel R, Sturmbauer C (2000) Multiple recurrent evolution of trophic types in northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean seabreams (Sparidae, Percoidei). J␣Mol Evol 50(3):276–283
Kassam DD, Adams DC, Yamaoka K (2004) Functional significance of variation in trophic morphology within feeding microhabitat-differentiated cichlid species in Lake Malawi. Anim Biol 54(1):77–90
Lighthill MJ (1975) Mathematical biofluidynamics. Siam, New York. Praeger, New York
Lindsey CC (1978) Form, function and locomotory habits␣in fish. In: Hoar WS, Randall DJ (eds) Fish physiology, vol. VII. Academic Press, New York, pp␣1–100
Leisler B, Winkler H (1985) Ecomorphology. In: Johnston RF (ed) Current Ornithology, vol. 2 . Plenum Press, New York, pp 155–186
Loy A, Bertelletti M, Costa C, Ferlin L, Cataudella S (2001) Shape changes and growth trajectories in the early stages of three species of the genus Diplodus (Perciformes, Sparidae).J Morphol 250:24–33
Luczkovich JJ, Motta PJ, Norton SF, Liem KF (1995) Ecomorphology of fishes. Developments in environmental biology of fishes 16, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, p 240
Marcus LF, Corti M, Loy A, Naylor GJP, Slice DE (1996) Advances in morphometrics. Plenum Press, New York, USA, pp 587
Mariani S, Maccaroni A, Massa F, Rampacci M, Tancioni L (2002) Lack of consistency between the trophic interrelationships of five sparid species in two adjacent central Mediterranean coastal lagoons. J Fish Biol 61(Suppl. A):138–147
Motta PJ, Kotrschal KM, (1992) Correlative, experimental, and comparative experimental approaches in ecomorphology. Netherland J Zool 42:400–415
Motta PJ, Clifton KB, Hernandez P, Eggold BT (1995a) Ecomorphological correlates in ten species of subtropical seagrass fishes: diet and microhabitat utilization. Environ Biol Fishes 44:37–60
Motta PJ, Norton SF, Luczkovich JJ (1995b) Perspectives on the ecomorphology of bony fishes. Environ Biol Fishes 44:11–20
Nelson JS (1994) Fishes of the world, 3rd edn. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 600 p
Norton SF (1991) Capture success and diet of cottid fishes: the role of predator morphology and attack kinematics. Ecology 72:1807–1819
Palomares MLD (1991) La consommatíon de nourriture chez les poissons: étude comparative, mise au point d’un modèle prédictif et application à l’étude des réseaux trophiques. Institut National Polytechnique, Toulouse. Thèse de Doctorat. 211 pp
Pauly D, Palomares ML (2000) Approaches for dealing with three sources of bias when studying the fishing down marine food web phenomenon In: Briand F (ed) Fishing down the mediterranean food webs? vol 12. CIESM Workshop Series, pp 61–66
Pita C, Gamito S, Erzini K (2002) Feeding habits of the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) from the Ria Formosa (southern Portugal) as compared to tha black seabream (Spondyliosoma cantharus) and the annular seabream (Diplodus annularis). J Appl Ichthyol 18:81–86
Rohlf FJ (1990) An overview of image processing and analysis techniques for morphometrics. In: Rohlf FJ, Bookstein FJ (ed) Proceedings of the michigan morphometrics workshop. University of. Michigan Museum of Zoology, Special Publication 2, pp 37–60
Rohlf FJ (2000) Statistical power comparisons among alternative morphometric methods. Am J Phys Anthropol 111:463–478
Rohlf FJ, Bookstein FL (1990) Proceedings of the michigan morphometric workshop. Special Publication No. 2. The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA,380 pp
Rohlf FJ, Marcus LF (1993) A revolution in morphometrics. Trend Ecol Evol 8:129–132
Rohlf FJ, Slice D (1990) Extensions of the Procrustes method for the optimal superimposition of landmarks. Syst Zool 39(1):40–59
Ruber L, Adams DC (2002) Evolutionary convergence of body shape and trophic morphology in cichlids from Lake Tanganyika. J Evol Biol 14:325–332
Sardà S, Company JB, Costa C (2005) Shape, habitat and behaviour: a preliminary approach to the distribution of the decapod crustaceans in the water column. Marine Biol 147(3):611–618
Slice DE (1998) Morpheus et’al.: software fore morphometric research. Revision 01-30-98-Beta. Department of ecology and evolution, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York
Stergiou KI, Karpouzi VS (2002) Feeding habits and trophic levels of Mediterranean fish. Rev Fish Biol Fisher 11:217–254
Stoner AW, Livingston RJ (1984) Ontogenetic patterns in diet and feeding morphology in sympatric sparid fishes from seagrass meadows. Copeia 1:174–187
Svanbaeck R, Ekloev P (2003) Morphology dependent foraging efficiency in perch: a trade-off for ecological specialization? Oikos 102(2):273–284
Thompson D’AW (1917) On growth and form. In: Bonner JT (ed) Abridged edition. Cambridge Univ. Press
Walker JA (1996) Principal components of body shape variation within an endemic radiation of threespine stickleback. In: Marcus LF, Corti M, Loy A, Naylor GJP, Slice DE (eds) Advances in morphometrics. NATO ASI series. Plenum Press, New York, pp 321–334
Walker JA (1997) Ecological morphology of lacustrine threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus L. (Gasterosteidae) body shape. Biol J Linnean Soc 61:3–50
Wainwright PC (1988) Morphology and ecology: functional basis of feeding constrains in Carribean labrid fishes. Ecology 69:635–645
Wainwright PC (1991) Ecomorphology: experimental functional anatomy for ecological problems. Am Zool 31:680–693
Wainwright PC, Richard BA (1995) Predicting patterns of prey use from morphology of fishes. Environ Biol Fishes 44:97–113
Webb PW (1984) Body form, locomotion and foraging in aquatic vertebrates. Am Zool 24:107–120
Webb PW (1988) Simple physical principles and vertebrate aquatic locomotion. Am Zool 28:709–725
Winemiller KO (1991) Ecomorphological diversification in lowland freshwater fish assemblages from five biotic regions. Ecol Monographs 61(4):343–365
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by a grant from the Ministero Italiano per le Politiche Agricole (Law 41/82). We would like to thank the Parco Nazionale del Circeo and in particular Massimo Cecchetti and the employees of the park that provide the fish. The authors would like to thank K. R. Buck who provided editorial input.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Costa, C., Cataudella, S. Relationship between shape and trophic ecology of selected species of Sparids of the Caprolace coastal lagoon (Central Tyrrhenian sea). Environ Biol Fish 78, 115–123 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9081-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9081-9