colourful youth: ontogenetic colour change is habitat specific in the invasive Nile perch

• Published in: Hydrobiologia Vol. 738; no. 1; pp. 221 - 234
• Main Authors: Nyboer, Elizabeth A, Gray, Suzanne M, Chapman, Lauren J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer-Verlag 01.10.2014; Springer International Publishing; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: adults; Aquatic ecosystems; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Color; Ecology; edge effects; Fish; Fishes; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Genetic diversity; Habitats; Invasive fish; lakes; Lates niloticus; Life Sciences; Nonnative species; Physiological aspects; Pigmentation; Predation; Primary Research Paper; Teenagers; Wetlands; Youth; Zoology; Uganda; Lake Victoria; Introduced predator; Ecological divergence; Ontogenetic shifts; Lake Victoria basin; Body colour
• ISSN: 0018-8158; 1573-5117
• DOI: 10.1007/s10750-014-1961-y

External body colour is an important trait contributing to phenotypic diversity and individual fitness in fish species. In this study, we use a combination of experimental techniques and field observations to examine patterns of colour divergence in the introduced Nile perch population of Lake Nabugabo, Uganda. We aim to determine whether the proportion of black–brown body colouration of Nile perch differs over a number of size classes, across ecologically distinct wetland edge and forest edge habitats, and whether these differences are the result of rapid (physiological) or ontogenetic (morphological) colour change. We found substantial colour differences in Nile perch between habitats, but trends were not consistent across size classes. Small Nile perch (<15 cm SL) from wetland edge habitats had darker skin pigmentation than those from forest edge; however, no significant colour differences existed between medium (15–40 cm SL) and large (>40 cm SL) Nile perch. Inter-habitat differences in colour in the small size class, and shifts in colour from juvenile to adult appear to be the result of morphological colour change associated with distinct ontogenetic shifts in resource use.