Functional morphology of the head of the anabantoid teleost fish Helostoma temmincki

Abstract Osteology, myology and motion analysis of the head of the anabantoid fish Helostoma temmincki , a specialized filter feeder, has revealed six functional units: neurocranium, suspensory apparatus, opercular apparatus, hyoid apparatus, branchial apparatus and pectoral girdle. Interactions between the functional units take place through four couplings involved in opening and protruding the jaws. The first coupling is activated in the beginning of the opening cycle by the levator operculi muscle through the opercular apparatus, interoperculomandibular ligament and mandible. The second is activated during feeding by contraction of the sternohyoideus through the hyoid apparatus, interopercular, interoperculomandibular ligament and mandible. The third coupling is active during feeding and “kissing” by contraction of epaxial muscles through mediation of the neurocranium to the jaw apparatus. The fourth coupling is the only one active during air intake and involves contraction of the levator arcus palatini which abducts and rotates the suspensory apparatus forwards, causing the mandible to drop. The retention of isolated ancestral characters during mosaic evolution are explained in terms of the maintenance of couplings which represent functional associations of seemingly remote structures. When natural selection acts on one component of a functional unit or coupling, it essentially acts on all associated elements simultaneously causing character complexes to evolve in common evolutionary trends. It is feasible that functional analysis can separate primary from secondary evolutionary trends.