Widespread loss of sleep in independently evolved populations of wild-caught cavefish.

ABSTRACT: Sleep is an evolutionarily ancient behavior, yet multiple cave-dwelling populations of the Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, have converged on sleep loss compared to surface fish. However, most of the 34 cave populations remain unstudied, and sleep in natural habitats is largely unknown. To address this, we measured sleep and activity in 15 representative populations of surface, cave, and hybrid populations. All cavefish and hybrid populations tested exhibited drastically reduced sleep, including hybrid populations with diverse eye and pigmentation phenotypes. Mapping behavior onto the A. mexicanus phylogeny revealed that reduced sleep and elevated locomotor activity evolved independently multiple times. Field experiments confirmed that wild fish also exhibit sleep loss, par

SUBMITTER: North OW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12670590 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature