Volume and ion regulation during repeated exposure to temperature change: Physiological divergence in trans-isthmian cognate pairs and latitudinally distant populations of decapod crustacea

When the Isthmus of Panama emerged as a land bridge, it set the stage for allopatric speciation in the marine fauna. In the present study Pacific and Atlantic populations of three cognate pairs of crabs were used to discern whether physiological divergence has occurred as a result of exposure to different thermal regimes in habitats and in the putative absence of gene flow. Additional comparison was made with Belize and Florida populations of the Atlantic Panama cognate. This was done to test the strength of correlation between physiological divergence and exposure to different thermal regimes in populations that potentially form a common genetic pool. Water temperatures decrease periodically in Pacific Panama and Florida but not in Atlantic Panama or Belize. Physiological divergence in volume and ion regulation was assessed in response to repeated exposure to either control and decreased temperature or to control and increased temperature. Results indicate that exposure to naturally occurring decreased temperatures in habitats has resulted in divergence. This divergence is demonstrated both in enhanced ability to regulate volume at decreased temperature and impaired ability to regulate volume at elevated temperature.