Habitat impacts the diversification of adhesive discs and skull shape in clingfishes
- 1University of California Irvine
Abstract
Specialized suction discs are functional innovations that enable fishes to attach to diverse surfaces and resist hydrodynamic forces. The adhesive discs of clingfishes (Gobiesocidae) vary in size and shape, but it is unclear how ecological factors have influenced their morphological evolution. Here we analyzed the disc and skull shape of 74 clingfish species using micro-CT scanning and 3D geometric morphometrics to investigate the role of habitat and substrate use on patterns of diversification. We also present novel comparisons of adhesive performance for 10 clingfish species. Clingfish interface directly with their environment using their adhesive discs, but we found that the disc and skulls are evolutionary integrated and share similar responses to habitat. Transitions from coastal habitats to coral reefs promoted elevated rates of evolution and morphological disparity across the body, whereas transitions to freshwater did not. Concurrently, repeated shifts from living on hard substrates to softer substrates (i.e., macroalgae and seagrass) were associated with more constrained disc shapes, convergent morphologies, and differences in adhesive performance. We propose that habitat and substrate use make complementary contributions to skeletal diversification in clingfishes, but the adhesive system requires further investigation to disentangle the complex interactions between form and function.
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BibTeX
@misc{huie2026habitat,
title = {{Habitat impacts the diversification of adhesive discs and skull shape in clingfishes}},
author = {J. Huie and A. P. Summers and K. C. Hall and T. Trnksii and S. E. Hannam and G. Voelker and C. Martinez and K. W. Conway},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.07.749744},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.07.749744v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Habitat impacts the diversification of adhesive discs and skull shape in clingfishes
AU - J. Huie
AU - A. P. Summers
AU - K. C. Hall
AU - T. Trnksii
AU - S. E. Hannam
AU - G. Voelker
AU - C. Martinez
AU - K. W. Conway
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/07
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.07.749744
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.07.749744v1
AB - Specialized suction discs are functional innovations that enable fishes to attach to diverse surfaces and resist hydrodynamic forces. The adhesive discs of clingfishes (Gobiesocidae) vary in size and shape, but it is unclear how ecological factors have influenced their morphological evolution. Here we analyzed the disc and skull shape of 74 clingfish species using micro-CT scanning and 3D geometric morphometrics to investigate the role of habitat and substrate use on patterns of diversification. We also present novel comparisons of adhesive performance for 10 clingfish species. Clingfish interface directly with their environment using their adhesive discs, but we found that the disc and skulls are evolutionary integrated and share similar responses to habitat. Transitions from coastal habitats to coral reefs promoted elevated rates of evolution and morphological disparity across the body, whereas transitions to freshwater did not. Concurrently, repeated shifts from living on hard substrates to softer substrates (i.e., macroalgae and seagrass) were associated with more constrained disc shapes, convergent morphologies, and differences in adhesive performance. We propose that habitat and substrate use make complementary contributions to skeletal diversification in clingfishes, but the adhesive system requires further investigation to disentangle the complex interactions between form and function.
ER -