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The junior research group "Adaptive Genomics of Sulawesi Ricefishes" was funded by the Leibniz Association from 2017 to 2022. Since 2022, it has been merged into the Evolutionary Genomics Section. Of particular interest in evolutionary biology are phenotypic changes that enable the utilisation of previously unavailable ecological resources (or niches). These traits, often referred to as evolutionary (key) innovations or adaptive breakthroughs, can be complex and result in fundamental changes in the life cycle.
Novel reproductive strategies are particularly interesting in this context, as these often complex adaptations are associated with changes in morphology, physiology and life cycle. The research group is focussing on a particular reproductive strategy, also known as ventral brooding or ventral fin brooding, which has evolved in at least two lineages of the rice fish (Actinopterygii: Adrianichthyidae) of Sulawesi.
In contrast to most other rice fish, which shed their fertilised eggs shortly after spawning, females of bellybrooders carry their eggs until the larvae hatch. The eggs are attached to the female by filaments and anchored in the female by a unique structure called a plug. The plug is a temporary tissue that forms after spawning, is supplied with blood and eventually dissolves after the young have hatched. Other obvious morphological adaptations are an indentation in the abdominal region and elongated pelvic fins, which are only present in breeding females. To investigate the morphological and genomic basis of ventral brooding and the evolution and adaptive value of this novel reproductive strategy, we use a holistic approach combining comparative morphology, gene expression data, genomic data and field data.
Contact person
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Projects
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Evolution and development of the plug, a transient novel tissue in ricefishes
Management: Dr. Julia Schwarzer
Publications
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2026/01
Recommendation of scientific fish husbandry: Sulawesi ricefishes (Beloniformes, Adrianichthyidae)
Bulletin of Fish Biology, 1, 21
2025/03
Increased phenotypic diversity as a consequence of ecological opportunity in the island radiation of Sulawesi ricefishes (Teleostei: Adrianichthyidae)
BMC Ecology and Evolution, 1, 25
2024/10
Recommendations for scientific fish husbandry–a series for promoting animal welfare, reproducibility and transferability in ichthyologic research
Bulletin of Fish Biology, 20
2023/10
A landmark‐free analysis of the pelvic girdle in Sulawesi ricefishes (Adrianichthyidae): How 2D and 3D geometric morphometrics can complement each other in the analysis of a complex structure
Ecology and Evolution, 10, 13
2023/08
Potential contribution of ancient introgression to the evolution of a derived reproductive strategy in ricefishes
Genome biology and evolution, 8, 15
2022/10
How to stay attached—Formation of the ricefish plug and changes of internal reproductive structures in the pelvic brooding ricefish, Oryzias eversi Herder et al. (2012) (Beloniformes: Adrianichthyidae)
Journal of morphology, 11, 283
2022/06
A new endemic species of pelvic-brooding ricefish (Beloniformes: Adrianichthyidae: Oryzias) from Lake Kalimpa'a, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Bonn zoological bulletin, 1, 71
2022/04
The genetic basis of a novel reproductive strategy in Sulawesi ricefishes: How modularity and a low number of loci shape pelvic brooding
Evolution, 5, 76
2022/03
More non-native fish species than natives, and an invasion of Malawi cichlids, in ancient Lake Poso, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Aquatic Invasions, 1, 17
2022/02
Inflammation and convergent placenta gene co-option contributed to a novel reproductive tissue
Current Biology, 3, 32
2021/12
Complex sexually dimorphic traits shape the parallel evolution of a novel reproductive strategy in Sulawesi ricefishes (Adrianichthyidae)
BMC ecology and evolution, 21
2019/07
The untapped potential of medaka and its wild relatives
eLife, 8
2018/07
A Dense Linkage Map of Lake Victoria Cichlids Improved the Pundamilia Genome Assembly and Revealed a Major QTL for Sex-Determination
G3, 7, 8
2016/09
Allopatric speciation in the desert: diversification of cichlids at their geographical and ecological range limit in Iran
1, 791
2016/09
Ocean currents determine functional connectivity in an Antarctic deep‐sea shrimp
Marine ecology, 6, 37
2014/09
The evolution of scarab beetles tracks the sequential rise of angiosperms and mammals
Proceedings - Royal Society. Biological sciences/Proceedings - Royal Society. Biological Sciences, 1791, 281
2014/06
Phylogeny and age of chromidotilapiine cichlids (Teleostei: Cichlidae)
1, 748
2014/03
Genomics and the origin of species
Nature Reviews Genetics, 3, 15
2013/03
Isolation and characterization of nine polymorphic microsatellite markers for the deep-sea shrimp Nematocarcinus lanceopes (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea)
1, 6
2012/09
Repeated trans-watershed hybridization among haplochromine cichlids (Cichlidae) was triggered by Neogene landscape evolution
Proceedings - Royal Society. Biological sciences/Proceedings - Royal Society. Biological Sciences, 1746, 279
2012/02
Phylogeography of the burnet moth Zygaena transalpina complex: molecular and morphometric differentiation suggests glacial refugia in Southern France, Western …
Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 1, 50
2011/11
Speciation within genomic networks: a case study based on Steatocranus cichlids of the lower Congo rapids
Journal of evolutionary biology, 1, 25
2011/09
Microsatellite Support for Active Inbreeding in a Cichlid Fish
PloS one, 9, 6
2011/07
Time and Origin of Cichlid Colonization of the Lower Congo Rapids
PloS one, 7, 6
2010/12
Costly plastic morphological responses to predator specific odour cues in three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
Evolutionary ecology, 3, 25
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Employees
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Dr. Julia Schwarzer
zmb Evolutionary genomics ScientistPhone: +49 228 9122 426
E-mail: j.schwarzer@leibniz-lib.de/leibniz-lib.de/fileadmin/user_upload/home/Bilder/LIB/Ueber_das_LIB/Mitarbeitende/Bonn/01_20241120_MKB_Portraits_LowRes_SchuellerAlina_FKurceren_6N0A6724.jpg%3F1739272895)
MSc Alina Schüller
zmb Evolutionary genomics Doctoral candidatePhone: +49 228 9122 431
E-mail: a.schueller@leibniz-lib.de