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Age and growth of the round stingray Urotrygon rogersi, a particularly fast-growing and short-lived elasmobranch.

ABSTRACT: We examined the age and growth of Urotrygon rogersi on the Colombian coast of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean by directly estimating age using vertebral centra. We verified annual deposition of growth increments with marginal increment analysis. Eight growth curves were fitted to four data sets defined on the basis of the reproductive cycle (unadjusted or adjusted for age at first band) and size variables (disc width or total length). Model performance was evaluated using Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC), AIC weights and multi-model inference criteria. A two-phase growth function with adjusted age provided the best description of growth for females (based on five parameters, DW∞ = 20.1 cm, k = 0.22 yr⁻¹) and males (based on four and five parameters, DW(∞) = 15.5 cm, k = 0.65 yr⁻¹). Median maturity of female and male U. rogersi is reached very fast (mean ± SE = 1.0 ± 0.1 year). This is the first age and growth study for a species of the genus Urotrygon and results indicate that U. rogersi attains a smaller maximum size and has a shorter lifespan and lower median age at maturity than species of closely related genera. These life history traits are in contrast with those typically reported for other elasmobranchs.

SUBMITTER: Mejia-Falla PA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4002482 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Age and growth of the round stingray Urotrygon rogersi, a particularly fast-growing and short-lived elasmobranch.

Mejía-Falla Paola A PA Cortés Enric E Navia Andrés F AF Zapata Fernando A FA

PloS one 20140428 4

We examined the age and growth of Urotrygon rogersi on the Colombian coast of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean by directly estimating age using vertebral centra. We verified annual deposition of growth increments with marginal increment analysis. Eight growth curves were fitted to four data sets defined on the basis of the reproductive cycle (unadjusted or adjusted for age at first band) and size variables (disc width or total length). Model performance was evaluated using Akaike's Information ...[more]

PMID: 24776963

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Project description:BackgroundAdaptive radiations are triggered by ecological opportunity - the access to novel niche domains with abundant available resources that facilitate the formation of new ecologically divergent species. Therefore, as new species saturate niche space, clades experience a diversity-dependent slowdown of diversification over time. At the other extreme of the radiation continuum, non-adaptively radiating lineages undergo diversification with minimal niche differentiation when 'spatial opportunity' (i.e. areas with suitable 'ancestral' ecological conditions) is available. Traditionally, most research has focused on adaptive radiations, while empirical studies on non-adaptive radiations remain lagging behind. A prolific clade of African fish with extremely short lifespan (Nothobranchius killifish), show the key evolutionary features of a candidate non-adaptive radiation - primarily allopatric species with minimal niche and phenotypic divergence. Here, we test the hypothesis that Nothobranchius killifish have non-adaptively diversified. We employ phylogenetic modelling to investigate the tempo and mode of macroevolutionary diversification of these organisms.ResultsNothobranchius diversification has proceeded with minor niche differentiation and minimal morphological disparity among allopatric species. Additionally, we failed to identify evidence for a role of body size or biogeography in influencing diversification rates. Diversification has been homogeneous within this genus, with the only hotspot of species-richness not resulting from rapid diversification. However, species in sympatry show higher disparity, which may have been caused by character displacement among coexisting species.ConclusionsNothobranchius killifish have proliferated following the tempo and mode of a non-adaptive radiation. Our study confirms that this exceptionally short-lived group have diversified with minimal divergent niche adaptation, while one group of coexisting species seems to have facilitated spatial overlap among these taxa via the evolution of ecological character displacement.

Dataset Information

Age and growth of the round stingray Urotrygon rogersi, a particularly fast-growing and short-lived elasmobranch.

Publications

Age and growth of the round stingray Urotrygon rogersi, a particularly fast-growing and short-lived elasmobranch.

Similar Datasets

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