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Free Content Speciation in the Serranid Fish Hypoplectrus

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Research was conducted to determine the species status of individual color morphs of fishes in the genus Hypoplectrus (family Serranidae). Crossing two morphs of Hypoplectrus (H. unicolor x H. gema) in the laboratory produced an F1 generation with an intermediate phenotype to that of the parental types. This intermediate morph cannot be assigned to any known morph and is thus termed a hybrid. Individuals of several Hypoplectrus morphs were found to select only individuals of the same morph as a mate when provided a choice. Individual fish can sometimes be forced to mate with an individual of a different morph by not providing a choice of mates. The occurrence of hybrids was found to be low in the field, corresponding to the low occurrence of mixed matings in the field. Some differences in distribution were found between the different hamlet morphs. The new data provided by this study indicate that the different color morphs warrant full species rank. It is hypothesized that speciation in Hypoplectrus was driven by the rise and fall of sea level during the last ice age.

Document Type: Research Article

Publication date: January 1, 1994

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  • The Bulletin of Marine Science is dedicated to the dissemination of high quality research from the world's oceans. All aspects of marine science are treated by the Bulletin of Marine Science, including papers in marine biology, biological oceanography, fisheries, marine affairs, applied marine physics, marine geology and geophysics, marine and atmospheric chemistry, and meteorology and physical oceanography.
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