Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2025
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E41
Höfundar / Authors: Guðbjörg Ósk Jónsdóttir (1), Laura-Marie von Elm (1), Finnur Ingimarsson (2), Kenedy A. Williams (1), Ruhila Goswami (1), Sigurður Sveinn Snorrason (1), Sarah Elizabeth Steele (3), Arnar Pálsson (1).
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. 1. University of Iceland, 2. Thingvellir National Park, 3. Canadian Museum of Nature.
Kynnir / Presenter: Guðbjörg Ósk Jónsdóttir
The diversity of functional anatomy related to feeding has been influenced by natural selection. This diversity is particularly impressive in fish and correlates with various ecological specializations. Differences between species originate as variation within species that selection can act on. The level of phenotypic parallelism and its ontogenetic roots are an active field of study. Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) is a freshwater fish species known for its variation, allopatric and sympatric polymorphism, most commonly diverging along a benthic-pelagic axis. In Iceland Arctic charr is found as anadromous (putative ancestral form) or non-anadromous (landlocked). In Lake Þingvallavatn, four landlocked morphs of charr coexist that differ in preferred prey, behaviour, habitat use and external feeding morphology. In the neighbouring Lake Úlfljótsvatn, three of the four Þingvallavatn morphs are found despite environmental conditions in the two lakes differing significantly. We studied variation in functional phenotype in six upper and lower jaw bones in charr populations around Iceland. We examined the sympatric charr morphs in both lakes Þingvallavatn and Úlfljótsvatn and compared them too five anadromous charr populations (putative ancestral form) and two non-specialised lake populations. Preliminary results show clear phenotypic divergence between benthic and pelagic morphs within Þingvallavatn however no phenotypic differences are between the morphs in Úlfljótsvatn.