Is Diet Correlated with Feeding Morphology in Neotropical Suckermouth Armoured Catfishes (Siluriformes: Loricariidae)?

The suckermouth armoured catfishes (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) are a diverse group of predominantly detritivorous fishes inhabiting rivers of South and Central America. Their distinct jaws are specialized for scraping a wide range of substrate. Though it is hypothesized that specialization of loricariid feeding morphology may have played a role in their diversification, little is known about the ecological and evolutionary processes involved. The present study quantifies variation in jaw functional traits and body morphology in a phylogenetic context. Morphological variation was compared to species' relative position in assemblage isotope space (for both δ13C and δ15N) to test for correlations between diet and feeding morphology. Results show that although jaw functional traits are decoupled from body morphology, both are correlated with δ13C values. Partitioning of terrestrial and aquatic resources can be explained by both jaw functional traits and body morphology, however further partitioning of diet is only attributed to the former.M.Sc