The habitat of one species of tropical fish is red coral reefs. The large majori

Question

The habitat of one species of tropical fish is red coral reefs. The large majority of the fish in this population are red. A few individual fish carry a mutation that prevents the production of the red pigment; as a result these individual fish are white. The temperature of the ocean where these fish live gets warmer and warmer over a 10 year period, and as a result the coral is bleached and turns white. Use what you have learned about natural selection to explain how this bleaching event may have affected the evolution this fish population (not including possible direct effects of warmer temperatures on the fish). Include the following terms in your explanation: differential reproduction, beneficial trait, allele frequency, selection pressure, evolution.

Explanation / Answer

From the given data we can infer that once the coral is bleached then the beneficial trait for survival in the bleached reef would be white. Differential reproduction suggests that white fish will adapt better and survive in comparison to red fish. The selection pressure will cause white fish to reproduce more successfully for their adaptation in the warmer temperature of the bleached ocean. Hence, the allele frequency of white fish will increase over time in comparison to the red ones. This change in the population of fish from red to white, itself suggests evolution.

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