Analysis of ontogenetic changes in head shape and diet in a catfish with moderately enlarged jaw adductors (Clariallabes melas)

Marisa Wyckmans; Anthony Herrel; Dominique Adriaens

doi:10.26496/bjz.2011.149

Authors

Marisa Wyckmans Dept. Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerpen, Belgium
Anthony Herrel Dept. d’Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, 75231, Paris, France
Dominique Adriaens Dept. Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26496/bjz.2011.149

Keywords:

fish, muscle, biting, suction, feeding, ontogeny

Abstract

Jaw adductor hypertrophy, or the presence of enlarged jaw-closing muscles, has arisen several times independently in African clariid catfish. Previous work has demonstrated that species characterized by enlarged jaw adductors may have unusual ways of foraging such as terrestrial foraging and prey capture, and often include a large proportion of hard and terrestrial prey in their diet. However, relatively little is known about species of the genus Clariallabes with an intermediate degree of jaw adductor hypertrophy. In the present study we present data on head shape and diet for a range of sizes of specimens of a poorly known species of Clariallabes, C. melas. Our data show that growth patterns in this species and the previously studied C. longicauda are similar in some ways (e.g. positive allometry of the growth of the jaw muscles) but different in others (negative allometry in hyoid width). However, C. melas has a smaller head for its body size in all dimensions. Due to the large number of empty stomachs we encountered, dietary data remain preliminary, but suggest a varied diet including both hard and soft prey. Our data show that a large amount of variation in head shape may exist even among related species and that species with jaw adductor hypertrophy generally show positive allometry in the growth of the jaw adductors and associated structures. Whether jaw muscle hypertrophy is an adaptive trait in clariid catfish awaits further comparative analyses testing for the evolutionary association between jaw adductor hypertrophy and the inclusion of hard prey into the diet.

References

Aguirre LF, Herrel A, Van Damme R & Mathyssen E (2003). The implications of food hardness for diet in bats. Functional Ecology, 17:201-212.

Cabuy E, Adriaens D, Verraes W & Teugels GG (1999). Comparative study on the cranial morphology of Gymnallabes typus (Siluriformes: Clariidae) and their less anguilliform relatives, Clariallabes melas and Clarias gariepinus. Journal of Morphology, 240:169-194.

Devaere S, Adriaens D, Teugels GG & Verraes W (2005). Morphology and spatial constraints in a dorso-ventrally flattened skull, with a revised species description of Platyallabes tihoni (Poll, 1944). Journal of Natural History, 39:1653-1673.

Devaere S, Adriaens D, Verraes W & Teugels GG (2001). Cranial morphology of the anguilliform clariid Channallabes apus (Günther, 1873) (Teleostei: Siluriformes): are adaptations related to powerful biting? Journal of Zoology, 255:235-250.

Devaere S, Jansen G, Adriaens D & Weekers P (2007). Phylogeny of the African representatives of the catfish family Clariidae (Teleostei, Siluriformes) based on a combined analysis: independent evolution towards anguilliformity. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 45:214-229.

Devaere S, Teugels GG, Adriaens D, Huysentruyt F & Verraes W (2004). Redescription of Dolichallabes microphthalmus (Poll, 1942) (Siluriformes, Clariidae). Copeia, 2004:108-115.

Grubich J (2003). Morphological convergence of pharyngeal jaw structure in durophagous perciform fish. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 80:147-165.

Hernandez LP & Motta PJ (1997). Trophic consequences of differential performance: ontogeny of oral jaw crushing performance in the sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus (Teleostei: Sparidae): Journal of Zoology, 243:737-756.

Herrel A, McBrayer LD & Larson PM (2007b). Functional basis for intersexual differences in bite force in the lizard Anolis carolinensis. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 91:111-119.

Herrel A, Adriaens D, Verraes W & Aerts P (2002). Bite performance in clariid fishes with hypertrophied jaw adductors as deduced by bite modeling. Journal of Morphology, 235:196-205.

Herrel A, Schaerlaeken V, Meyers JJ, Metzger KA & Ross CA (2007a). The evolution of cranial design and performance in squamates: consequences of skull-bone reduction on feeding behavior. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 47:107-117.

Herrel A, Van Wassenbergh S, Wouters S, Adriaens D & Aerts P (2005). A functional morphological approach to the scaling of the feeding system in the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. Journal of Experimental Biology, 208:2091-2102.

Huber DR, Claes JM, Mallefet J & Herrel A (2009). Is extreme bite performance associated with extreme morphologies in sharks. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 82:20-28.

Huyghe K, Vanhooydonck B, Scheers H, Molina-Borja M & Van Damme R (2005). Morphology, performance and fighting capacity in male lizards, Gallotia galloti. Functional Ecology, 19:800-807.

Huysentruyt F, Adriaens D, Teugels GG, Devaere S, Herrel A, Verraes W & Aerts P (2004). Diet composition in relation to morphology in some African anguilliform clariid catfishes. Belgian Journal of Zoology, 134:41-46.

Jansen G, Devaere S, Weekers PHH & Adriaens D (2006). Phylogenetic relationships and divergence time estimate of African anguilliform catfish (Siluriformes: Clariidae) inferred from ribosomal gene and spacer sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 38:65-78.

Korff WL & Wainwright PC (2004). Motor pattern control for increasing crushing force in the striped burrfish (Chilomycterus schoepfi). Zoology, 107:335-346.

Lailvaux SP, Herrel A, Vanhooydonck B, Meyers JJ & Irschick DJ (2004). Fighting tactics differ in two distinct male phenotypes in a lizard: Heavyweight and lightweight bouts. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B., 271:2501-2508.

Lappin AK & Husak JF (2005). Weapon performance, not size, determines mating success and potential reproductive output in the collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris). American Naturalist, 166:426-436.

Lauder GV (1983). Neuromuscular patterns and the origin of trophic specialization in fishes. Science, 219:1235-1237.

Mittelbach GG, Osenberg CW & Wainwright PC (1999). Variation in feeding morphology between pumpkinseed populations: phenotypic plasticity or evolution? Evolutionary Ecology Research, 1:111-128.

Rohlf FJ (2004). tpsDIG32 version 1.40. Available at http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/morph/index.html

Sokal RF & Rohlf FJ (1995). Biometry. WH Freeman, New York.

Streelman JT & Albertson RC (2006). Evolution of Novelty in the Cichlid Dentition. Journal of Experimental Zoology, 306B:216-26.

Turingan RG, Wainwright PC & Hensley DA (1995). Interpopulational variation in prey use and feeding biomechanics in Caribbean triggerfishes. Oecologia, 102:296-304.

Van Daele PAAG, Herrel A & Adriaens D (2009). Biting performance in teeth-digging African mole-rats (Fukomys, Bathyergidae, Rodentia). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 82:40-50.

Van Wassenbergh S, Aerts P & Herrel A (2005). Scaling of suction-feeding kinematics and dynamics in the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. Journal of Experimental Biology, 208:2103–2114.

Van Wassenbergh S, Aerts P & Herrel A (2006d). Scaling of suction feeding performance in the catfish Clarias gariepinus. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 79:43-56.

Van Wassenbergh S, Herrel A, Adriaens D & Aerts P (2004). Effects of jaw adductor hypertrophy on buccal expansions during feeding of air breeding catfishes (Teleostei, Clariidae). Zoomorphology, 123:81-93.

Van Wassenbergh S, Herrel A, Adriaens D & Aerts P (2006b). Modulation and variability of prey capture kinematics in clariid catfishes Journal of Experimental Zoology, 305A:559-569.

Van Wassenbergh S, Herrel A, Adriaens D & Aerts P (2006c). No trade-off between biting and suction feeding performance in clariid catfish. Journal of Experimental Biology, 210:27-36.

Van Wassenbergh S, Herrel A, Adriaens D, Huysentruyt F, Devaere S & Aerts P (2006a). A catfish that can strike its prey on land. Nature, 440:881.

Wainwright PC (1987). Biomechanical limits to ecological performance: mollusc-crushing by the Caribbean hogfish, Lachnolaimus maximus (Labridae). Journal of Zoology, 213:283-297.

Wyckmans M, Van Wassenbergh S, Adriaens D, Van Damme R & Herrel A (2007). Size-related changes in cranial morphology affect diet in the catfish Clariallabes longicauda. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 92:323-334.