Yale researchers have found that the ability of fish in temperate and polar ecosystems to move between shallow and deep water triggers species diversification.
Yale researchers have found that the ability of fish in temperate and polar ecosystems to move between shallow and deep water triggers species diversification.
Fish, the most biodiverse vertebrates in the animal kingdom, present evolutionary biologists a conundrum: The greatest species richness is found in the world’s tropical waters, yet the fish groups that generate new species most rapidly inhabit colder climates at higher latitudes.
A new Yale study helps to explain this paradox. The researchers discovered that the ability of fish in temperate and polar ecosystems to transition back and forth from shallow to deep water triggers species diversification.
Their findings, published Feb. 11 in the journal Nature Communications, suggest that as climate change warms the oceans at higher latitudes, it will impede the evolution of fish species.
Read more at Yale University
Image: A blue rockfish in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Calif. (Photo: NOAA’s National Ocean Service)
