Subterranean Fishes of the World

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2019

AIM 2019

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Field studies are major ways to better understand ecosystem characteristics influencing organism life cycle. It is especially crucial in order to develop good husbandry systems, technics and protocols adapted for wild animals in lab facilities. Adaptation to the captivity is not easy for most wild animals, including fish. Different abiotic and biotic factors strongly influence the beginning of domestication. For aquatic animals, clearly, the most important medium is the water. Knowledge of physicochemical characteristics of the natural water of rivers, ponds, lakes and caves inhabited by Astyanax mexicanus surface fish and/or cavefish should allow improving all stages of life cycle in research facilities. Acquiring such data is essential in order to establish good practices adapted to this new model organism. In poikilothermic organisms like fish, temperature and water quality are the two main factors influencing growth, gamete maturation, gonadalsomatic index, spawning, fertilization ratios, larval survivals, total life span. Between 2009 and 2017, we have systematically collected field data on water temperature, conductivity, pH and other water parameters in Astyanax caves (mostly in El Pachón, Los Sabinos, Tinaja, Chica and Subterraneo caves) and several river stations in the region of Ciudad Valles. The data will be discussed in regards to published papers describing influences of water parameters on Astyanax biology. Work supported by UMS AMAGEN and DECA group. Bibliography : - Mexican Eyeless Characin Fishes, Genus Astyanax: Environment, Distribution, and Evolution Robert W. Mitchell, William H. Russell, and William R. Elliott, The Museum Texas Tech University Special Publications No. 12, 89 pp., 21 figs.11 February 1977. - The Astyanax Caves of Mexico, Cavefishes of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, and Guerrero William R. Elliott, Association for Mexican Caves Studies, Bulletin 26 (book), 2018 - Temperature Preference of Cave and Surface Populations of Astyanax mexicanus. Tabin JA, Aspiras A, Martineau B, Riddle M, Kowalko J, Borowsky R, Rohner N, Tabin CJ. Dev Biol. 2018 Sep 15;441(2):338-344. - Microbiome Differences Between River-dwelling and Cave-adapted Populations of the Fish Astyanax mexicanus (De Filippi, 1853)Claudia Patricia Ornelas-García, Silvia Pajares, Víctor Manuel Sosa-Jiménez, Sylvie Rétaux and Ramsés Alejandro Miranda-Gambo (2018). PeerJ 6:e5906.

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Astyanax Interrnational Meeting