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Evolution of the fast start response in the cavefish Astyanax mexicanus

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Abstract

The extreme sensory environment of subterranean caves presents an adaptive challenge for troglobitic organisms. Although caves provide distinct selective pressures (e.g., darkness, food scarcity), advantages often come with living in isolated places. The cave-adapted (hypogean) form of the teleost Astyanax mexicanus lacks predators in its natural environment, unlike its ancestral surface (epigean) form that inhabits the nearby rivers. This species provides a unique opportunity for comparative studies because A. mexicanus has invaded the cave environment multiple times, providing us with independent comparative adaptive experiments. Here, we examine kinematic parameters that characterize the escape responses of various forms of A. mexicanus. We demonstrate that populations differ in details of fast start performance, but that surface fish do not perform better than cavefish in escape responses. Our results are more consistent with genetic drift or divergent selection among caves than with relaxation of selection in determining the evolution of escape behavior in this system.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. William Jeffery for sharing his animal colony and Amy Parkhurst for her help. We also acknowledge the helpful comments of two anonymous reviewers.

Ethical standards

All experiments comply with the current laws of the USA.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Kim Hoke

  2. Biology Department, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Adina Schwartz & Daphne Soares

Authors
  1. Kim Hoke
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  2. Adina Schwartz
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  3. Daphne Soares
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daphne Soares.

Additional information

Communicated by T. Bakker

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Hoke, K., Schwartz, A. & Soares, D. Evolution of the fast start response in the cavefish Astyanax mexicanus . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 66, 1157–1164 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-012-1368-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-012-1368-6

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