Through a glass darkly? Divergent reactions of eight Lake Tanganyika cichlid species towards their mirror image in their natural environment

Lake Tanganyika is the oldest of the Great Ancient Lakes in the East Africa. This lake harbours about 250 species of cichlid fish, which are highly diverse in terms of morphology, behaviour, and ecology. Lake Tanganyika's cichlid diversity has evolved through explosive speciation and is treated as a textbook example of adaptive radiation, the rapid differentiation of a single ancestor into an array of species that differ in traits used to exploit their environments and resources. To elucidate the processes and mechanisms underlying the rapid speciation and adaptive radiation of Lake Tanganyika's cichlid species assemblage it is important to integrate evidence from several lines of research. Great efforts have been, are, and certainly will be taken to solve the mystery of how so many cichlid species evolved in so little time. In the present review, we summarize morphological studies that relate to the adaptive radiation of Lake Tanganyika's cichlids and highlight their importance for understanding the process of adaptive radiation.

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Differential attack by a cichlid fish on resident and non-resident fish of another cichlid species

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/156853912x629139 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 149 (1) ◽

pp. 99-109 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Satoshi Awata ◽

Masanori Kohda ◽

Haruki Ochi

Keyword(s):

Field Experiment ◽

Lake Tanganyika ◽

Cichlid Fish ◽

Previous Experience ◽

Alternative Mechanism ◽

Differential Attack ◽

Dear Enemy ◽

Resident Fish ◽

Cichlid Species ◽

Dear Enemy Effect

AbstractAn algivorous cichlid, Variabilichromis moorii( Vm), defends permanent territories in Lake Tanganyika, Africa. A zoobenthivorous cichlid, Neolamprologus mustax( Nm), spends 60% of daylight hours foraging in Vmterritories, from which other zoobenthivorous fishes are chased out and consequently which are much richer in prey animals than areas outside of Vmterritories. We conducted a field experiment to examine whether Nmresidents and non-residents received different degrees of attacks from Vm. Nmfish were caught in their territories, released at a point distant from these territories, and followed to observe interactions with Vmfish. The frequency of attacks received by the displaced Nmfish was greater than attacks received by Nmresidents, indicating that Nmresidents had easier access to Vmterritories than non-residents did. A possible mechanism for this is reduced aggression of Vmtowards Nmresidents, as a result of the ‘dear enemy’ effect that has been reported in territorial contests between rivals. An alternative mechanism is that tolerance towards Nmdiffers among Vmfish and Nmresidents selectively visit more tolerant Vmfish due to previous experience while non-residents randomly approach both tolerant and hostile Vmfish. The ability of Vmto discriminate between Nmresidents and non-residents is essential to the former mechanism but not to the latter. To more specifically examine which mechanism works in the Vm– Nmcommensal system, we will need to follow individually identified Vmfish interacting with Nmresidents and non-residents.

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Two new cichild species Neolamprologus (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.1612.1.2 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 1612 (1) ◽

pp. 25-44 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

PIET VERBURG ◽

ROGER BILLS

Keyword(s):

Lake Tanganyika ◽

East Coast ◽

Lake Victoria ◽

Niche Partitioning ◽

Sedimentation Rates ◽

Rocky Shores ◽

Ecological Differentiation ◽

Cichlid Species ◽

Large Numbers ◽

Rocky Habitat

Two new cichlid species, Neolamprologus walteri sp. nov. and N. chitamwebwai sp. nov., from the Bangwe peninsula (Tanzania), on the east coast of Lake Tanganyika, are described. Both species belong to the N. savoryi species complex, characterised by a lunate tail with long filaments. Neolamprologus chitamwebwai and N. walteri are highly stenotopic species, restricted to rocky habitat. They occur sympatrically with each other and with two other species of the complex but occupy different microhabitats. Neolamprologus walteri lives in large numbers in sheltered areas with rubble substrate whereas N. chitamwebwai occurs in much lower numbers on more exposed parts of the rocky shores, with large boulders, lower sedimentation rates, coarser sediment, and higher visibility. The two new species although closely related, show clear ecological differentiation. Evidence of ecological differentiation between closely related sympatric cichlids is rare in literature. Closely related sympatric cichlids in the large African lakes (with literature mainly referring to Lake Victoria and Lake Malawi) have been suggested to differ little in diet and habitat use, which has encouraged the idea that cichlid species can coexist without niche partitioning. Our paper provides a different perspective with cichlids from Lake Tanganyika.

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The Lake Tanganyika cichlid species assemblage: recent advances in molecular phylogenetics

Hydrobiologia ◽

10.1007/s10750-008-9552-4 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 615 (1) ◽

pp. 5-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 97

Author(s):

Stephan Koblmüller ◽

Kristina M. Sefc ◽

Christian Sturmbauer

Keyword(s):

Molecular Phylogenetics ◽

Lake Tanganyika ◽

Species Assemblage ◽

Cichlid Species ◽

Recent Advances

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A complex mode of aggressive mimicry in a scale-eating cichlid fish

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2015.0521 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 20150521 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Nicolas Boileau ◽

Fabio Cortesi ◽

Bernd Egger ◽

Moritz Muschick ◽

Adrian Indermaur ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fish Species ◽

Related Species ◽

Lake Tanganyika ◽

Cichlid Fish ◽

Targeted Sequencing ◽

Complex Mode ◽

Cichlid Species ◽

Aggressive Mimicry ◽

Complex Interactions

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 Plecodus straeleni , a scale-eating cichlid fish from Lake Tanganyika, which imitates two other cichlid species. Employing targeted sequencing on ingested scales, we show that P. straeleni does not preferentially parasitize its models but—contrary to prevailing assumptions—targets a variety of co-occurring dissimilar looking fish species . Combined with tests for visual resemblance and visual modelling from a prey perspective, our results suggest that complex interactions among different cichlid species are involved in this mimicry system.

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Alternative Reproductive Tactics in the Shell-Brooding Lake Tanganyika Cichlid Neolamprologus brevis

International Journal of Evolutionary Biology ◽

10.1155/2012/193235 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kazutaka Ota ◽

Mitsuto Aibara ◽

Masaya Morita ◽

Satoshi Awata ◽

Michio Hori ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lake Tanganyika ◽

Field Studies ◽

Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽

Reproductive Tactics ◽

Sandy Bottom ◽

Cichlid Species ◽

Somatic Condition ◽

Males And Females ◽

Rocky Habitats ◽

Sexually Mature

Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) are found in several Lake Tanganyika shell-brooding cichlids. Field studies were conducted in the Wonzye population to examine reproductive ecology and ARTs in the Lake Tanganyika shell-brooding cichlid Neolamprologus brevis. We discovered that this fish occurred in both rocky- and sandy-bottom habitats, but in rocky habitats, brood-caring females exclusively occurred in shell-patches that another cichlid species created. All N. brevis of both sexes in the patches were sexually mature, whereas immature males and females with unripe eggs were found frequently in sandy-bottom habitats. Males in sandy-bottom habitats were smaller, but fed more frequently and were in better somatic condition than males in the patches. Similar tendency was found in females. This indicates that N. brevis uses different habitats depending on the stage of its life history, with migration from sandy-bottom habitats to the shell-patches for reproduction. Males in the patches exhibited different behavior patterns: floating above the patches and lying in the patches. The former was larger, more aggressive, and invested less in gonads (relative to body size) than the latter. These results accord with those of other shell-brooding Lake Tanganyika cichlids with ARTs, and they therefore suggest the presence of ARTs in N. brevis.

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Replicated divergence in cichlid radiations mirrors a major vertebrate innovation

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2015.1413 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 283 (1822) ◽

pp. 20151413 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Matthew D. McGee ◽

Brant C. Faircloth ◽

Samuel R. Borstein ◽

Jimmy Zheng ◽

C. Darrin Hulsey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lake Tanganyika ◽

Strong Association ◽

Live Prey ◽

Kinematic Data ◽

Cichlid Species ◽

Jaw Bones ◽

Upper Jaw ◽

African Rift ◽

Rift Lake ◽

Feeding Behaviours

Decoupling of the upper jaw bones—jaw kinesis—is a distinctive feature of the ray-finned fishes, but it is not clear how the innovation is related to the extraordinary diversity of feeding behaviours and feeding ecology in this group. We address this issue in a lineage of ray-finned fishes that is well known for its ecological and functional diversity—African rift lake cichlids. We sequenced ultraconserved elements to generate a phylogenomic tree of the Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi cichlid radiations. We filmed a diverse array of over 50 cichlid species capturing live prey and quantified the extent of jaw kinesis in the premaxillary and maxillary bones. Our combination of phylogenomic and kinematic data reveals a strong association between biting modes of feeding and reduced jaw kinesis, suggesting that the contrasting demands of biting and suction feeding have strongly influenced cranial evolution in both cichlid radiations.

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Back to Tanganyika: a case of recent trans-species-flock dispersal in East African haplochromine cichlid fishes

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.140498 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 140498 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Britta S. Meyer ◽

Adrian Indermaur ◽

Xenia Ehrensperger ◽

Bernd Egger ◽

Gaspard Banyankimbona ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lake Tanganyika ◽

Lake Victoria ◽

Species Flock ◽

East African ◽

Cichlid Species ◽

African Great Lakes ◽

Cichlid Fishes ◽

Haplochromine Cichlid ◽

Lake Victoria Region ◽

Adaptive Radiations

The species flocks of cichlid fishes in the East African Great Lakes are the largest vertebrate adaptive radiations in the world and illustrious textbook examples of convergent evolution between independent species assemblages. Although recent studies suggest some degrees of genetic exchange between riverine taxa and the lake faunas, not a single cichlid species is known from Lakes Tanganyika, Malawi and Victoria that is derived from the radiation associated with another of these lakes. Here, we report the discovery of a haplochromine cichlid species in Lake Tanganyika, which belongs genetically to the species flock of haplochromines of the Lake Victoria region. The new species colonized Lake Tanganyika only recently, suggesting that faunal exchange across watersheds and, hence, between isolated ichthyofaunas, is more common than previously thought.

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