Axial variation in the threespine stickleback: genetic and environmental factors

Subtle differences in the pattern of arrangement of types of vertebrae and associated median skeletal structures between a benthic and limnetic species pair of threespine stickleback from Paxton Lake, British Columbia, are typical of those found throughout the range of the Gasterosteus aculeatus species complex. We established laboratory colonies from just three individuals of each species, and studied the effect of three generations of inbreeding on axial morphology. There was sufficient divergence in the location of individual elements between families to regenerate close to the entire range of axial diversity seen in threespine sticklebacks worldwide. Analysis of the patterns of variance and covariance between the axial locations of elements provides evidence for the action of both meristic and homeotic processes in the generation of morphological divergence within each species. Hybrid sticklebacks produced by the cross of limnetic and benthic parents tend to have intermediate morphologies, with dominance of either parental type evident for some elements. Effects of temperature and salinity were found to be small in direct comparison with between‐family effects, and varied according to genetic background. These results demonstrate that considerable genetic variation for axial morphology is maintained in natural populations of threespine stickleback, and that differences between populations may be brought about rapidly by changes in frequency of alleles that have coordinated effects along the body axis.