Shaping of the lower jaw bone during growth of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and a Lake Victoria cichlid Haplochromis chilotes: a geometric morphometric approach

East African cichlids have evolved feeding apparatus morphologies to adapt to diverse feeding environments. However, little is known about how the morphologies are formed during development. Here, we assessed the shape changes of the lower jaw bone during growth of the Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and a Lake Victoria cichlid Haplochromis chilotes using geometric morphometric methods. 'Early Juvenile to Late Juvenile' and 'Late Juvenile to Adult' transitions of the shape change during growth of both O. niloticus and H. chilotes were detected. The 'Early Juvenile to Late Juvenile' transition of the shape change in H. chilotes occurred slightly earlier than in O. niloticus. We also compared the shape changes during growth of the two cichlids. Principal component analysis showed both commonalities and differences in the morphological changes between the cichlids. Our data suggest that most shape change may have a similar pattern during the growth of O. niloticus and H. chilotes, and that the differences in adult shapes may be due to differences arising early in development, not to the difference of shape change during growth. These data provide a basis for understanding the developmental mechanisms underlying this adaptive trait of East African cichlids.