Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
 | 
Online Publication Date: 01 Dec 2001

Sexual Dimorphism and Geographic Variation in Dentition of Threespine Stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus

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Page Range: 936 – 944
DOI: 10.1643/0045-8511(2001)001[0936:SDAGVI]2.0.CO;2
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Abstract

Diversification of threespine stickleback trophic morphology in relation to habitat has been studied extensively, but dentition has been ignored. Using samples of threespine stickleback from a range of habitats in the Pacific and Atlantic Basins, we characterize the morphology of individual teeth and their arrangement on the premaxilla. Although tooth morphology does not vary conspicuously, we observed striking differences in tooth arrangement between Pacific and Atlantic populations, significant variation among populations within basins, and pronounced sexual dimorphism in tooth number and arrangement within all populations from both basins.

Copyright: The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
 Fig. 1. 
 Fig. 1. 

Upper jaws of representative male Rabbit Slough (A) and Ile Verte (B) fish, showing dental series and counts of Pacific and Atlantic basin specimens, respectively. Abbreviations: AM, anterior medial; LA, labial (Pacific); LA′, labial (Atlantic); LI, lingual (Pacific); LI′, lingual (Atlantic); PER, perimeter; PM, posterior medial

 Fig. 2. 
 Fig. 2. 

SEM photographs of spremaxillary teeth from Enos Lake limnetic (A) and benthic (B). Scale bars represent 1.0 mm

 Fig. 4. 
 Fig. 4. 

Premaxillae of representative males and females from each study population, showing interpopulation differences and sexual dimorphism in dental arrangement

 Fig. 3. 
 Fig. 3. 

SEM photographs of premaxillae from representative benthic (A) and limnetic (B) populations (Mud and Visnaw Lake, respectively). Scale bars represent 1.0 mm

Received: 15 Aug 2000
Accepted: 10 Apr 2001
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