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E. Alabamae Case Study

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Discussion Mayden (1993) used E. zonatum for comparisons in describing the new species E. alabamae. Comparing Cypress Creek to sampled E. zonatum populations in the 1993 Mayden paper show that males in Cypress Creek fell into accepted ranges for known populations but looking at the means for body measurements on average males from Cypress Creek were smaller than those measured by Mayden. Female measurements from Cypress Creek paralleled those seen in Mayden’s comparison. However, females from Bayou de Chien were larger on average than females sampled by Mayden while males were similar in measurements. Walsh and Burr (1984) noted that the maximum length of E. zonatum is usually reported as 32-38mm but lacks definition as to whether those numbers refer to standard or total length. Some variation in size for such a wide-ranging species can be caused by more southern individuals growing larger due to earlier spawning periods and longer growing seasons (Walsh and Burr, 1984). Overall, it appears that individuals found above the fall line in Cypress Creek are of similar measurements to other sampled populations of E. zonatum. While some groupings were observed in the body measurement PCA analysis, no distinct separation of drainages were observed. Only comparisons of females resemble anything close …show more content…

Biodiversity loss threatens to disrupt the function of ecosystems, with the potential of consequences for humans as well. Often this loss is measured by species extinction rates, but considerations should be made to include population diversity with measures including changes in size, number, distribution and genetic composition of population and potential implications those changes may have (Luck et al., 2003). Avise (2004) goes as far as to say biodiversity is genetic

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