The cichlid family features some of the most spectacular examples of adaptive radiation. Evolutionary studies have highlighted the importance of both trophic adaptation and sexual selection in cichlid speciation. However, it is poorly understood what processes drive the composition and diversity of local cichlid species assemblages on relatively short, ecological timescales. Here, we investigat...

12 benthic-limnetic axis and most populations are also color-polymorphic. The most comprehensive project focuses on the gold/dark color polymorphism in the Midas cichlid species complex (Amphilophus citrinellus spp.). Using a comparative approach that bases on extensive field collections of Midas cichlids, a substantial degree of ecological differentiation between color morphs is revealed. The ...

The symposium ‘‘Genomics and Vertebrate Adaptive Radiation: A Celebration of the First Cichlid Genome’’ was held at the annual meeting for the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology in Boston in January, 2009. While the central topic was the genomics of adaptive radiation in cichlid fishes, the symposium integrated speakers studying genotype-to-phenotype maps in other model organisms. G...

Aggressive mimicry is an adaptive tactic of parasitic or predatory species that closely resemble inoffensive models in order to increase fitness via predatory gains. Although similarity of distantly related species is often intuitively implicated with mimicry, the exact mechanisms and evolutionary causes remain elusive in many cases. Here, we report a complex aggressive mimicry strategy in Plec...

Owing to its high degree of complexity and plasticity, the cichlid pharyngeal jaw apparatus has often been described as a key evolutionary innovation. The majority of studies investigating pharyngeal muscle behavior and function have done so in the context of feeding. Analysis of enzyme activities (citrate synthase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase and L-lactate dehydrogenase) of pharyngeal musc...

An agent-based simulation has been built to model speciation in cichlid fishes in the Great Lakes of Africa. A real natural system has been chosen as the target of simulation, rather than a generalised system. This focusses research towards open problems in cichlid biology, and provides a library of field research to drive the design and parametrisation of the simulation. Visualisations of the ...

Lake Victoria harbors a unique species-rich flock of more than 500 endemic haplochromine cichlid fishes. The origin, age, and mechanism of diversification of this extraordinary radiation are still debated. Geological evidence suggests that the lake dried out completely about 14,700 years ago. On the basis of phylogenetic analyses of almost 300 DNA sequences of the mitochondrial control region o...

Hundreds of species of cichlid fishes have evolved in the Great Lakes of Africa. These colorful fishes are known for their ecological diversity. Here, we discuss the diversity of their visual systems. Cichlids have seven unique cone opsin genes, which produce visual pigments sensitive from the ultraviolet to the red end of the spectrum. Different species typically express three visual pigments ...

The dramatic variation of cichlid fish colour pattern is thought to function in mate choice, evolve by sexual selection, and contribute to explosive speciation. Here, we combine linkage mapping and population genetic analyses to identify a single region of the cichlid genome responsible for the orange blotch (OB) colour phenotype. In each analysis, OB is tightly linked to the c-ski1 gene. Addit...

Most freshwater diversity is arguably located in networks of rivers and streams, but, in contrast to lacustrine systems riverine radiations, are largely understudied. The extensive rapids of the lower Congo River is one of the few river stretches inhabited by a locally endemic cichlid species flock as well as several species pairs, for which we provide evidence that they have radiated in situ. ...