Geography of speciation affects rate of trait divergence in haemulid fishes.

Speciation and the interactions between recently diverged species are thought to be major causes of ecological and morphological divergence in evolutionary radiations. Here, we explore the extent to which geographical overlap and time since speciation may promote divergence in marine species, which represent a small fraction of currently published studies about the patterns and processes of speciation. A time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of New World haemulid fishes, a major radiation of reef and shore fishes in the tropical West Atlantic and East Pacific, reveals 21 sister species pairs, of which eight are fully sympatric and 13 are allopatric. Sister species comparisons show a non-significant relation between most of the phenotypic traits and time since divergence in allopatric taxa. Additionally, we find no difference between sympatric and allopatric pairs in the rate of divergence in colour pattern, overall body shape, or functional morphological traits associated with locomotion or feeding. However, sympatric pairs show a significant decrease in the rate of divergence in all of these traits with increasing time since their divergence, suggesting an elevated rate of divergence at the time of speciation, the effect of which attenuates as divergence time increases. Our results are consistent with an important role for geographical overlap driving phenotypic divergence early in the speciation process, but the lack of difference in rates between sympatric and allopatric pairs indicates that the interactions between closely related species are not dominant drivers of this divergence.

Elevated rates of morphological and functional diversification in reef-dwelling haemulid fishes.

The relationship between habitat complexity and species richness is well established but comparatively little is known about the evolution of morphological diversity in complex habitats. Reefs are structurally complex, highly productive shallow-water marine ecosystems found in tropical (coral reefs) and temperate zones (rocky reefs) that harbor exceptional levels of biodiversity. We investigated whether reef habitats promote the evolution of morphological diversity in the feeding and locomotion systems of grunts (Haemulidae), a group of predominantly nocturnal fishes that live on both temperate and tropical reefs. Using phylogenetic comparative methods and statistical analyses that take into account uncertainty in phylogeny and the evolutionary history of reef living, we demonstrate that rates of morphological evolution are faster in reef-dwelling haemulids. The magnitude of this effect depends on the type of trait; on average, traits involved in the functional systems for prey capture and processing evolve twice as fast on reefs as locomotor traits. This result, along with the observation that haemulids do not exploit unique feeding niches on reefs, suggests that fine-scale trophic niche partitioning and character displacement may be driving higher rates of morphological evolution. Whatever the cause, there is growing evidence that reef habitats stimulate morphological and functional diversification in teleost fishes.