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Possible occurrence of character displacement in the sympatric skates Raja erinacea and R. ocellata (Pisces: Rajidae)

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Synopsis

Raja erinacea and R. ocellata are sibling species which are positively correlated with each other by occurrence and numerical abundance. In sympatry the species undergo interactive segregation; R. erinacea feeds on a higher percentage of epifauna and R. ocellata feeds on a higher percentage of infauna.

An isolated allopatric population of R. ocellata occurs in the Gulf of St. Lawrence which is phenotypically intermediate between the sympatric populations of R. erinacea and R. ocellata in characters related to feeding e.g. size, number of tooth rows in the upper jaw, and shape of the upper jaw. It appears probable that the allopatric population represents the morphological state of R. ocellata before it became sympatric with R. erinacea; divergence in size, number of tooth rows, and shape of the upper jaw between the two species developed after establishment of sympatry. These divergences in character traits, related to feeding, reduced competition between the two sympatric species and permitted the present wide overlap in their ranges.

Character displacement is evidently rare in demersal fishes inhabiting the flat and soft bottoms of the northwestern Atlantic because the three other pairs of sibling species that occur there are parapatrically distributed and thus would not compete for resources. Raja erinacea and R. ocellata may have been restrained from establishing parapatry by another species pair of skates (R. senta and R. radiata) which have a complementary distribution and similar feeding habits of R. erinacea and R. ocellata but which occur in deeper water.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, 77843, USA

    John D. McEachran

  2. Environmental Resources Branch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston, Texas, 77550, USA

    Chester O. Martin

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  1. John D. McEachran
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  2. Chester O. Martin
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McEachran, J.D., Martin, C.O. Possible occurrence of character displacement in the sympatric skates Raja erinacea and R. ocellata (Pisces: Rajidae). Environ Biol Fish 2, 121–130 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00005367

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00005367

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