Data from: Elevated rates of morphological and functional diversification in reef-dwelling haemulid fishes.

The relationship between habitat complexity and species richness is well established but comparatively little is known about the evolution of morphological diversity in complex habitats. Reefs are structurally complex, highly productive shallow-water marine ecosystems found in tropical (coral reefs) and temperate zones (rocky reefs) which harbor exceptional levels of biodiversity. We investigated whether reef habitats promote the evolution of morphological diversity in the feeding and locomotion systems of grunts (Haemulidae), a group of predominantly nocturnal fishes that live on both temperate and tropical reefs. Using phylogenetic comparative methods and statistical analyses that take into account uncertainty in phylogeny and the evolutionary history of reef-living we demonstrate that rates of morphological evolution are faster in reef-dwelling haemulids. The magnitude of this effect depends on the type of trait; on average, traits involved in the functional systems for prey capture and processing evolve twice as fast on reefs as locomotor traits. This result, along with the observation that haemulids do not exploit unique feeding niches on reefs, suggests that fine-scale trophic niche partitioning and character displacement may be driving higher rates of morphological evolution. Whatever the cause, there is growing evidence that reef habitats stimulate morphological and functional diversification in teleost fishes.生境复杂性与物种丰富度之间的关联已得到广泛证实，但目前针对复杂生境中形态多样性的演化机制，学界尚了解甚少。礁体（reef）是一类结构复杂、生产力极高的浅海海洋生态系统，分布于热带海域的珊瑚礁（coral reef）与温带海域的岩礁（rocky reef），孕育了极为丰富的生物多样性。本研究以石鲈（grunts，分类学上隶属于石鲈科（Haemulidae））为研究对象，该类群多为夜行性鱼类，栖息于温带与热带礁体生境中，旨在探究礁体生境是否会推动其取食与运动系统的形态多样性演化。本研究采用系统发育比较方法（phylogenetic comparative methods）与统计分析框架，同时纳入系统发育（phylogeny）不确定性与礁栖演化历史的影响，结果证实：栖息于礁体的石鲈类群，其形态演化速率显著更快。该效应的强度取决于性状（trait）类型：平均而言，与猎物捕获及处理功能系统相关的性状，在礁体生境中的演化速率是运动相关性状的两倍。结合石鲈类群并未在礁体生境中占据独特取食生态位的观测结果，该结论提示：精细尺度的营养生态位分化与性状替换（character displacement）可能是推动形态演化速率提升的潜在机制。无论具体驱动机制为何，越来越多的证据表明，礁体生境会推动硬骨鱼类（teleost fishes）的形态与功能多样性演化。