Blind cavefish evolved food-searching behavior without changing sensory modality compared with sighted conspecies in the dark.

ABSTRACT: In nature, animals must navigate to forage according to their sensory inputs. Different species use different sensory modalities to locate food efficiently. For teleosts, food emits visual, mechanical, chemical, and/or possibly weak-electrical signals, which can be detected by optic, auditory/lateral line, and olfactory/taste buds sensory systems. However, how fish respond to and use different sensory inputs when locating food, as well as the evolution of these sensory modalities, remain unclear. We examined the Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, which is composed of two different morphs: a sighted riverine (surface fish) and a blind cave morph (cavefish). Compared with surface fish, cavefish have enhanced non-visual sensory systems, including the mechanosensory lateral line system,

SUBMITTER: Kuball K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10312625 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature