A new cave locality for Astyanax cavefish in Sierra de El Abra, Mexico
The characiform fish Astyanax mexicanus comes in two forms, a surface-dwelling morph which lives in the rivers of North and Central America and a blind, depigmented cave-dwelling morph which inhabits caves in Mexico. In recent years, this species has arguably become among the most...
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doaj-767119c3a38a4ed29295bdf395cb647e2020-11-24T21:57:33ZengPensoft PublishersSubterranean Biology1768-14481314-26152018-07-0126395310.3897/subtbiol.26.2664326643A new cave locality for Astyanax cavefish in Sierra de El Abra, MexicoLuis Espinasa0Laurent Legendre1Julien Fumey2Maryline Blin3Sylvie Rétaux4Monika Espinasa5Marist CollegeUniversité Paris-SaclayUniversité Paris-SudUniversité Paris-SudUniversité Paris-SudUlster County Community College The characiform fish Astyanax mexicanus comes in two forms, a surface-dwelling morph which lives in the rivers of North and Central America and a blind, depigmented cave-dwelling morph which inhabits caves in Mexico. In recent years, this species has arguably become among the most influential model system for the study of evolutionary development and genomics in cave biology. While recent articles have analysed in great detail Astyanax genetics, development, physiology, phylogeny and behaviour, there have been comparatively few recent studies concerning its ecology and in particular its biogeography. Mitchell et al. (1977) reported the species inhabiting 29 caves in the Sierra de El Abra region. Despite the elapsing of over 40 years and the latest surge of interest in the model, not a single new cave locality had been described for the species. We describe here a new and 30th cave locality, Chiquitita Cave, inhabited by troglomorphic A. mexicanus. Their morphology, eye histology, 16S rRNA DNA sequence, and smelling capabilities are analysed. This cave represents the southernmost extension for the cave morph’s habitat within the Sierra de El Abra. Its name, Chiquitita Cave (Tiny Cave), was chosen in reference to a potential hydrologic connection to “Chica Cave” (small cave), which is among the most studied populations of Astyanax. https://subtbiol.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=26643 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Luis Espinasa Laurent Legendre Julien Fumey Maryline Blin Sylvie Rétaux Monika Espinasa |
spellingShingle |
Luis Espinasa Laurent Legendre Julien Fumey Maryline Blin Sylvie Rétaux Monika Espinasa A new cave locality for Astyanax cavefish in Sierra de El Abra, Mexico Subterranean Biology |
author_facet |
Luis Espinasa Laurent Legendre Julien Fumey Maryline Blin Sylvie Rétaux Monika Espinasa |
author_sort |
Luis Espinasa |
title |
A new cave locality for Astyanax cavefish in Sierra de El Abra, Mexico |
title_short |
A new cave locality for Astyanax cavefish in Sierra de El Abra, Mexico |
title_full |
A new cave locality for Astyanax cavefish in Sierra de El Abra, Mexico |
title_fullStr |
A new cave locality for Astyanax cavefish in Sierra de El Abra, Mexico |
title_full_unstemmed |
A new cave locality for Astyanax cavefish in Sierra de El Abra, Mexico |
title_sort |
new cave locality for astyanax cavefish in sierra de el abra, mexico |
publisher |
Pensoft Publishers |
series |
Subterranean Biology |
issn |
1768-1448 1314-2615 |
publishDate |
2018-07-01 |
description |
The characiform fish Astyanax mexicanus comes in two forms, a surface-dwelling morph which lives in the rivers of North and Central America and a blind, depigmented cave-dwelling morph which inhabits caves in Mexico. In recent years, this species has arguably become among the most influential model system for the study of evolutionary development and genomics in cave biology. While recent articles have analysed in great detail Astyanax genetics, development, physiology, phylogeny and behaviour, there have been comparatively few recent studies concerning its ecology and in particular its biogeography. Mitchell et al. (1977) reported the species inhabiting 29 caves in the Sierra de El Abra region. Despite the elapsing of over 40 years and the latest surge of interest in the model, not a single new cave locality had been described for the species. We describe here a new and 30th cave locality, Chiquitita Cave, inhabited by troglomorphic A. mexicanus. Their morphology, eye histology, 16S rRNA DNA sequence, and smelling capabilities are analysed. This cave represents the southernmost extension for the cave morph’s habitat within the Sierra de El Abra. Its name, Chiquitita Cave (Tiny Cave), was chosen in reference to a potential hydrologic connection to “Chica Cave” (small cave), which is among the most studied populations of Astyanax.
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url |
https://subtbiol.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=26643 |
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