Abstract/Summary:
How can diversity rapidly arises in evolutionary times? The hamlets (Hypoplectrusspp.), a group of coral reef fish that underwent rapid diversification and are recognised by their remarkable color patterns provide a unique opportunity to address this question as they have one of the fastest speciation rate in the marine realm. In my thesis, I develop a quantitative pipeline for color pattern analysis in reef fishes that I further use to uncover the genetic basis of color pattern variation in hamlets. I then use this pipeline on an extensive phenotypic dataset that I complement with an extensive genetic dataset to assess both the phenotypic and genetic variation substrate for selection at early evolutionary radiation stages that are the hamlets. Finally, I assess the hamlet radiation in a phylogenetic context both at the whole-genome level and at the genomic regions that underlie color pattern variation.