Kinematic analysis of social interactions deconstructs the evolved loss of schooling behavior in cavefish.

ABSTRACT: Fish display a remarkable diversity of social behaviors, both within and between species. While social behaviors are likely critical for survival, surprisingly little is known about how they evolve in response to changing environmental pressures. With its highly social surface form and multiple populations of a largely asocial, blind, cave-dwelling form, the Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, provides a powerful model to study the evolution of social behavior. Here we use motion tracking and analysis of swimming kinematics to quantify social swimming in four Astyanax mexicanus populations. In the light, surface fish school, maintaining both close proximity and alignment with each other. In the dark, surface fish no longer form coherent schools, however, they still show evidence of an attem

SUBMITTER: Patch A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8985933 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature