Subterranean Fishes of the World

5627

2022

AIM 2022

33

Aggression is a complex behavior present across the animal kingdom that plays a role in survival and reproductive success. While aggressive behaviors are widespread, significant variability in aggression is observed both between and within species. Astyanax mexicanus are a single species consisting of highly aggressive river dwelling surface fish and multiple independently evolved populations of cavefish that exhibit reductions in aggression. Thus, A. mexicanus provides an opportunity to examine the genetic underpinnings of the evolution of aggressive behaviors. To fully characterize aggressive behaviors in this species, we first quantified the different behaviors that surface fish exhibit during aggressive encounters. Next, we determined which of these behaviors were altered in multiple, independently evolved cavefish populations. We found that surface fish exhibit a rich array of behaviors during aggressive encounters, and that while the number and duration of many of these behaviors are reduced in cavefish from multiple cave populations, some cavefish retain these behaviors. These methods, which are currently being applied to quantify aggressive behaviors in cave-surface hybrid fish, will contribute to our understanding of the genetic architecture underlying the evolution of aggression in this species.

1