ArticleEcology and evolution2013
Measuring and evaluating morphological asymmetry in fish: distinct lateral dimorphism in the jaws of scale-eating cichlids.
Article in Ecology and evolution, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Lateralized Gene Splicing in the Brain is Associated With Lateralized Feeding Behavior in an Asymmetrical Scale-eating Cichlid Fish.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Insights into the genetic basis of bilateral head asymmetry in a scale-eating cichlid fish.Science advances · 2025Article
- Bilateral asymmetry in craniofacial structures and kinematics of feeding attacks in the scale-eating cichlid fish,Zoological research · 2025Article
- Preying on cyprinid snout warts (pearl organs) as a novel and peculiar habit in the Lake Malawi cichlid Docimodus evelynae.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Genetic and environmental effects on the morphological asymmetry in the scale-eating cichlid fish, Perissodus microlepis.Ecology and evolution · 2015Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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Abstract
The left-right asymmetry of scale-eating Tanganyikan cichlids is described as a unilateral topographical shift of the quadratomandibular joints. This morphological laterality has a genetic basis and has therefore been used as a model for studying negative frequency-dependent selection and the resulting oscillation in frequencies of two genotypes, lefty and righty, in a population. This study aims were to confirm this laterality in Perissodus microlepis Boulenger and P. straeleni (Poll) and evaluate an appropriate method for measuring and testing the asymmetry. Left-right differences in the height of the mandible posterior ends (HMPE) and the angle between the neurocranium and vertebrae of P. microlepis and P. straeleni were measured on skeletal specimens. Snout-bending angle was also measured using a dorsal image of the same individuals following a previous method. To define which distribution model, fluctuating asymmetry (FA), directional asymmetry (DA), or antisymmetry (AS), best fit to the lateral asymmetry of the traits, we provided an R package, IASD. As a result, HMPE and neurocranium-vertebrae angle of both species were best fitted to AS, suggesting that P. microlepis and P. straeleni showed a distinct dimorphism in these traits, although snout-bending angle of P. microlepis was best fitted to FA. Measurement error was low for HMPE comparing the snout-bending angle in P. microlepis, indicating that measuring HMPE is a more accurate method. The scale-eating tribe Perissodini showed distinct antisymmetry in the jaw skeleton and neurocranium-vertebrae angle, and this laterality remains a valid marker for further evolutionary studies.
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