Fig. 1

Relatedness, habitats and egg weights of haplochromine cichlid species used in this study. a Simplified phylogeny, based on previous genetic studies of East African haplochromine cichlids, representing the relationships between the species included in this study and their habitats. The colours refer to each lake and proximity to one of the lakes for riverine species. b Variation in egg weight across the haplochromine cichlid species in respect of the length of female fishes, from which the eggs are produced. c Comparison of egg weights, corrected by female standard length, across different habitats. d–f Comparisons of egg weights, corrected by female standard length, between carnivorous and herbivorous species within each of the three East African lakes. The black and grey enclosed boxes, respectively, indicate piscivorous and invertebrate feeder (carnivorous), whereas other coloured boxes indicate herbivorous species in each lake. Asterisks above box plots indicate significantly elevated expression (P < 0.05) compared to the plots matching the colour of the asterisks. In each plot the middle line represents the median and boxes’ lower and upper limits indicate the 25/75 percentiles