Morphological segregation of Icelandic threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L).

Abstract

Icelandic threespine sticklebacks show parallel sympatric morphological differences related to different substrate habitats in four Icelandic lakes. The level of morphological diversification varies among the lakes, ranging from a population with a wide morphological distribution to a population with clear resource morphs, where morphological diversification was reflected in diet differences. These differences in morphological divergence are closely related to the differences in the ecological surroundings of each population. This appears to be resource polymorphism, which may lead to population differentiation and speciation. Trophically related sexual dimorphism was also common in these sticklebacks, which is possibly the result of sexual selection or habitat segregation by the sexes. (C) 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002, 76, 247-257.