Extraordinary AFLP fingerprint similarity despite strong assortative mating between reef fish color morphospecies.

Adaptive sympatric speciation of polychromatic "roundfin" sailfin silverside fish in Lake Matano (Sulawesi).

The significance of sympatric speciation is one of the most controversial topics in evolutionary biology. Theory suggests that different factors can lead to speciation in full geographical contact, including selection and nonrandom mating. Strict criteria have been established for assessing sympatric speciation, which have been met in only a very few cases. Here, we investigate differentiation ...

Assortative Mating as a Barrier to Gene Flow in a Coral Reef Fish Species Flock

Allopatric divergence and speciation in coral reef fish: the three-spot dascyllus, Dascyllus trimaculatus, species complex.

Long pelagic larval phases and the absence of physical barriers impede rapid speciation and contrast the high diversity observed in marine ecosystems such as coral reefs. In this study, we used the three-spot dascyllus (Dascyllus trimaculatus) species complex to evaluate speciation modes at the spatial scale of the Indo-Pacific. The complex includes four recognized species and four main color m...

Strong assortative mating by diet, color, size, and morphology but limited progress toward sympatric speciation in a classic example: Cameroon crater lake cichlids.

Models predict that sympatric speciation depends on restrictive parameter ranges, such as sufficiently strong disruptive selection and assortative mating, but compelling examples in nature have rarely been used to test these predictions. I measured the strength of assortative mating within a species complex of Tilapia in Lake Ejagham, Cameroon, a celebrated example of incipient sympatric adapti...

Assortative mating preferences among hybrids offers a route to hybrid speciation.

Homoploid speciation generates species without a change in chromosome number via introgressive hybridization and has been considered rare in animals. Heliconius butterflies exhibit bright aposematic color patterns that also act as cues in assortative mating. Heliconius heurippa has a color pattern that can be recreated by introgression of the H. melpomene red band into an H. cydno genetic backg...