Sexual dimorphism in sister species of Leucoraja skate and its relationship to reproductive strategy and life history

Evolution & Development
Christopher M MartinezMichael G Frisk

Abstract

Instances of sexual dimorphism occur in a great variety of forms and manifestations. Most skates (Batoidea: Rajoidei) display some level of body shape dimorphism in which the pectoral fins of mature males develop to create a distinct bell-shaped body not found in females. This particular form of dimorphism is present in each of the sister species Leucoraja erinacea and Leucoraja ocellata, but differences between sexes are much greater in the former. In order to understand the nature and potential causes of pectoral dimorphism, we used geometric morphometrics to investigate allometry of fin shape in L. erinacea and L. ocellata and its relationship to the development of reproductive organs, based on previous work on the bonnethead shark, Sphyrna tiburo. We found that allometric trajectories of overall pectoral shape were different in both species of skate, but only L. erinacea varied significantly with respect to endoskeleton development. Male maturation was characterized by a number of sex-specific morphological changes, which appeared concurrently in developmental timing with elongation of cartilage-supported claspers. We suggest that external sexual dimorphism of pectoral fins in skates is a byproduct of skeletal growth needed...Continue Reading

References

Feb 3, 1998·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·G A ParkerM J Gage
Jun 9, 2004·Journal of Human Evolution·Philipp MitteroeckerFred L Bookstein
Aug 20, 2005·The Biological Bulletin·Stephen M KajiuraAdam P Summers
Apr 14, 2012·Journal of Fish Biology·J L FitzpatrickJ P Evans

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Citations

Feb 13, 2016·Journal of Morphology·Christopher M MartinezMichael G Frisk
Jul 13, 2017·The Journal of Animal Ecology·David Outomuro, Frank Johansson
Oct 2, 2019·ELife·Ramakrishnan VasudevaMatthew Jg Gage
Jun 15, 2019·Integrative Organismal Biology·C M MartinezP C Wainwright

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