Weight‐Length Ratio of Piranhas <i>Serrasalmus</i> (Characiformes, Serrasalmidae) in Bolivia: Relationships to Molecular Divergence and Maximum Size?

Abstract

Weight-Length Relationships (WLRs) provide a basis for comparing life history strategies and morphological differentiation among fish species, potentially linking slope variations to evolutionary divergences in size and weight. This study presents the WLRs of nine <i>Serrasalmus</i> piranha species from the Amazon and La Plata basins in Bolivia, assessing whether WLRs slopes are influenced by phylogenetic relationships using a phylogenetic mixed model analysis on the mitochondrial DNA COI (barcoding) locus. All species demonstrated an exponential (power-type) growth pattern, with most showing positive allometric growth. The species showing the greatest differentiation in both WLRs and genetic variation was <i>S. elongatus</i>. We detected a strong phylogenetic signal in WLR slopes, though clustering techniques for WLRs slopes and molecular data revealed only partial concordance. We discuss how these concordances and discrepancies between WLRs and genetic data may reflect ancient and intermediate speciation events, shaped by habitat conditions and stochastic evolutionary processes. Such processes appear to influence swimming mechanisms and ecological niche navigation in these closely related <i>Serrasalmus</i> species.