Major
Biology
Anticipated Graduation Year
2024
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Central American cichlid fish present a puzzle to evolutionary biologists: how do we define a species, especially when they are still hybridizing? Throughout the lifespan of cichlids, they develop a distinct morphology going from almost indistinguishable juveniles to identifiable adults. Our Summer 2023 Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) course set out to map the timing of these differences across 23 cichlid species from Guatemala. As a team, we discovered that this variation appears early on, such that juvenile fish are already displaying the diversity we see in adults.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Yoel Stuart, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
Supported By
Caleb McMahan, PhD, the Field Museum
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
From Small Fry to Big Fish: How developmental morphology can define a species.
Central American cichlid fish present a puzzle to evolutionary biologists: how do we define a species, especially when they are still hybridizing? Throughout the lifespan of cichlids, they develop a distinct morphology going from almost indistinguishable juveniles to identifiable adults. Our Summer 2023 Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) course set out to map the timing of these differences across 23 cichlid species from Guatemala. As a team, we discovered that this variation appears early on, such that juvenile fish are already displaying the diversity we see in adults.