Details of Award

NERC Reference : NER/A/S/2003/00424

Sex and speciation in marine fishes.

Principal Investigator:: Professor MJ Gage, University of East Anglia, Biological Sciences
Co-Investigator:: Dr B Emerson, University of East Anglia, Biological Sciences
Grant held at:: University of East Anglia, Biological Sciences

Abstract:: Understanding how species arise is fundamental to our understanding of the natural world. The role of mate choice in promoting divergence is particularly controversial, although there is evidence that it has been important in African freshwater fishes. Fishes in marine environments such as coral reefs also exhibit high diversity which is associated with remarkable variation in colour patterns. Hamlets are possibly the most famous example of a marine adaptive radiation. Nine to 12 'species' of these small, carnivorous fishes are distributed on reefs across the Caribbean. The 'species' are identical in all ways except in colour patterns. The aims of this project are to determine whether hamlet colour morphs are truly species, measure the extent to which they hybridise in the wild and explain the geographic pattern of distribution of the colour morphs. The aims will be achieved with a combination of ecological surveys, behavioural observations of mate choice in the wild and in aquaria, and genetic analyses of the divergence among morphs carried out by a post-doctoral researcher and a PhD student. This project will shed light on the mechanisms of speciation in the sea and provide tests of generalities derived from studies of terrestrial and freshwater systems.

Authorised funds only

This grant award has a total value of £240,059

Total - T&S	Total - Staff	Total - Other Costs	Total - Indirect Costs
£34,348	£98,295	£45,640	£61,776

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