Ontogeny of Population-Specific Phenotypic Variation in the Threespine Stickleback
Date
2018-01-09
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Abstract
The Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a fish commonly used for the study of adaptive radiation, phenotypic plasticity, parallel evolution, and epigenetic mechanisms. Information regarding stickleback development, however, is largely missing from the literature. Using 2D and 3D analysis, I characterized skeletal and soft tissue development in four phenotypically diverse populations of stickleback, three marine and one freshwater. Fish as early as 5 days post fertilization can be distinguished by population, and by 90 days post fertilization, stickleback juveniles have developed a nearly complete skeleton and have attained their population-specific phenotype. This research gives some of the first indications of phenotype development in the Threespine Stickleback, and suggests that juvenile stickleback may be a target of selection in the fish’s expansion into new habitats.
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Keywords
Threespine Stickleback, Ontogeny, Development, Skeleton, 3D Morphometrics, Phenotype, Epigenetics, Embryo
Citation
Pistore, A. E. (2018). Ontogeny of Population-Specific Phenotypic Variation in the Threespine Stickleback (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.