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Meristic and morphometric variation among anglerfish of the genus Lophius (Lophiiformes)
Author(s) -
Leslie R. W.,
Grant W. S.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1994.tb00004.x
Subject(s) - meristics , biology , zoology , phylogenetics , genus , evolutionary biology , genetic variability , molecular phylogenetics , genetics , gene , genotype
We studied patterns of morphological variability among species of Lophius and Lophiomus with multivariate methods and cladistic analyses of gap‐coded morphometric variables. The pattern of meristic variability among species appears to reflect temperature variability rather than the molecular phylogeny of this group, except for Lophius vaillanti , the most primitive Lophius. The pattern of morphometric variability differs from the pattern of meristic variability and also from the molecular phylogeny and reflects convergence in body shape between distantly‐related species. It is uncertain, however, if these patterns are due to changes in genetic information or to the continuing influence of the environment on development.