ArticleThe Journal of experimental biology2008
Shadow response in the blind cavefish Astyanax reveals conservation of a functional pineal eye.
Article in The Journal of experimental biology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evolution of a central dopamine circuit underlies adaptation of a light-evoked sensorimotor response in the blind cavefish.Science advances · 2026Article
- A comparative brain atlas in the Mexican cavefish identifies widespread changes in cellular composition and gene expression.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- The rx3 Gene Contributes to the Evolution of Eye Loss in the Cavefish Astyanax mexicanus.Evolution & development · 2025Article
- Reduced adult stem cell fate specification led to eye reduction in cave planarians.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Tadpoles rely on mechanosensory stimuli for communication when visual capabilities are poor.Developmental biology · 2024Article
- Photobehaviours guided by simple photoreceptor systems.Animal cognition · 2023Review
- Next-generation plasmids for transgenesis in zebrafish and beyond.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2023Article
- Article
- Dark-rearing uncovers novel gene expression patterns in an obligate cave-dwelling fish.Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution · 2020Article
- Antagonistic Inhibitory Circuits Integrate Visual and Gravitactic Behaviors.Current biology : CB · 2020Article
- Review
- Parallel visual circuitry in a basal chordate.eLife · 2019Article
- Expression of extraocularPeerJ · 2019Article
- Development of the Astyanax mexicanus circadian clock and non-visual light responses.Developmental biology · 2018Article
- Characterization and comparison of activity profiles exhibited by the cave and surface morphotypes of the blind Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus.Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Toxicology & pharmacology : CBP · 2018Article
- Sleep research goes wild: new methods and approaches to investigate the ecology, evolution and functions of sleep.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2017Review
- The rise of Astyanax cavefish.Developmental dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists · 2015Article
- Distinct genetic architecture underlies the emergence of sleep loss and prey-seeking behavior in the Mexican cavefish.BMC biology · 2015Article
- The sensitivity of lateral line receptors and their role in the behavior of Mexican blind cavefish (Astyanax mexicanus).The Journal of experimental biology · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The blind cavefish Astyanax mexicanus undergoes bilateral eye degeneration during embryonic development. Despite the absence of light in the cave environment, cavefish have retained a structurally intact pineal eye. We show here that contrary to visual degeneration in the bilateral eyes, the cavefish pineal eye has conserved the ability to detect light. Larvae of two different Astyanax cavefish populations and the con-specific sighted surface-dwelling form (surface fish) respond similarly to light dimming by shading the pineal eye. As a response to shading, cavefish larvae swim upward vertically. This behavior resembles that of amphibian tadpoles rather than other teleost larvae, which react to shadows by swimming downward. The shadow response is highest at 1.5-days post-fertilization (d.p.f.), gradually diminishes, and is virtually undetectable by 7.5 d.p.f. The shadow response was substantially reduced after surgical removal of the pineal gland from surface fish or cavefish larvae, indicating that it is based on pineal function. In contrast, removal of one or both bilateral eye primordia did not affect the shadow response. Consistent with its light detecting capacity, immunocytochemical studies indicate that surface fish and cavefish pineal eyes express a rhodopsin-like antigen, which is undetectable in the degenerating bilateral eyes of cavefish larvae. We conclude that light detection by the pineal eye has been conserved in cavefish despite a million or more years of evolution in complete darkness.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.