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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Journal of Fish Biology<BR>Volume 74 Issue 3, Pages
502 - 520<BR>Published Online: 3 Feb 2009<BR><BR><FONT size=4>Morphology–diet
relationships in four killifishes (Teleostei, Cyprinodontidae,
Orestias)</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT size=4>from Lake Titicaca</FONT><BR>E.
Maldonado*†‡, N. Hubert§, P. Sagnes‖ B. De MÉrona*‖ <BR>* U.R. 131 Institut
de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), 43 Bd du 11 novembre 1918, 69622
Villeurbanne, France , † Instituto de Limnología, Universidad Mayor
de San Andrès, La Paz, Bolivia , § U.R. 175 Institut de Recherche
pour le Développement (IRD), GAMET, BP 5095, 361 rue JF Breton, 34196
Montpellier Cedex 05, France and ‖ UMR CNRS 5023 Ecologie des
hydrosystèmes fluviaux, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 43 Bd du 11 novembre
1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France <BR>Correspondence to ‡Tel.: +33
472 43 1642; fax: +33 472 43 2892; email: salazarlili@yahoo.com
<BR><BR><STRONG>ABSTRACT</STRONG><BR>This study explores the relationship
between morphology and diet in four Andean killifishes (Orestias) from Lake
Titicaca that are known to differ in habitat use. Species that fed
preferentially on amphipods (Orestias albus) or molluscs (Orestias luteus)
separated in multivariate space from other species that feed on cladocera and
algae (Orestias agassii and Orestias jussiei). Generally, specimens feeding on
cladocera were characterized by a short, blunt nose with a small mouth; whereas,
specimens feeding on amphipods exhibited a long snout with a large mouth.
Specimens including molluscs in their diet tended to have a larger posterior
part of the head and the larger opercles than others; while the occurrence of
substratum in gut content was generally related to a short but deep head. The
present analysis suggests that the littoral O. jussiei has an intermediate
phenotype and diet between the pelagic (O. agassii) and benthic (O. albus and O.
luteus) species. Results suggest that resource partitioning was occurring and
that several morphological traits relate to characteristics of the diet, and it
is inferred that the benthic, the pelagic and the littoral zones in the lake
host different prey communities constituting distinct adaptive
landscapes.</FONT></DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>