Evolution of acoustic communication in blind cavefish

Carole Hyacinthe (1) , Joël Attia (1) , Sylvie Rétaux (1)

1 NeuroPSI - Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay

Acoustic communication allows the exchange of information within specific contexts and during specific behaviors. The blind, cave-adapted and the sighted, river-dwelling morphs of the species Astyanax mexicanus have evolved in markedly different environments. During their evolution in darkness, cavefish underwent a series of morphological, physiological and behavioral changes, allowing the study of adaptation to drastic environmental change. Here we discover that Astyanax is a sonic species, in the laboratory and in the wild, with sound production depending on the social contexts and the type of morph. We characterize one sound, the "Sharp Click", as a visually-triggered sound produced by dominant surface fish during agonistic behaviors and as a chemosensory-, food odor-triggered sound produced by cavefish during foraging. Sharp Clicks also elicit different reactions in the two morphs in play-back experiments. Our results demonstrate that acoustic communication does exist and has evolved in cavefish, accompanying the evolution of its behaviors.

Domaines: Evolution [q-bio.PE]

Carole Hyacinthe, Joël Attia, Sylvie Rétaux. Evolution of acoustic communication in blind cavefish. Nature Communications, 2019, 10 (1), ⟨10.1038/s41467-019-12078-9⟩. ⟨hal-02325592⟩