New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Blind cavefish can walk and climb waterfalls like four-footed mammals and amphibians

Date:
March 24, 2016
Source:
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Summary:
Researchers have identified unique anatomical features in a species of blind, walking cavefish in Thailand that enable the fish to walk and climb waterfalls in a manner comparable to tetrapods, or four-footed mammals and amphibians.
Share:
FULL STORY

Researchers from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have identified unique anatomical features in a species of blind, walking cavefish in Thailand that enable the fish to walk and climb waterfalls in a manner comparable to tetrapods, or four-footed mammals and amphibians.

The discovery of this capability, not seen in any other living fishes, also has implications for understanding how the anatomy that all species need to walk on land evolved after the transition from finned to limbed appendages in the Devonian period, which began some 420 million years ago.

This research is reported in a March 24 Nature Scientific Reports article, "Tetrapod-like pelvic girdle in a walking cavefish," by Brooke E. Flammang, Daphne Soares, Julie Markiewicz and Apinun Suvarnaraksha. Flammang and Soares, assistant professors in the NJIT Department of Biological Sciences, were assisted with the research by Markiewicz, an NJIT post-baccalaureate research volunteer in the Flammang lab at the university. Investigator Suvarnaraksha is a member of the Faculty of Fisheries Technology and Aquatic Resources of Maejo University in Thailand.

Speaking of the unique anatomical structures seen in the cavefish, Cryptotora thamicola, Flammang says, "It possesses morphological features that have previously only been attributed to tetrapods. The pelvis and vertebral column of this fish allow it to support its body weight against gravity and provide large sites for muscle attachment for walking." With respect to evolutionary significance, she adds, "This research gives us insight into the plasticity of the fish body plan and the convergent morphological features that were seen in the evolution of tetrapods."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SguiYeG_O8o


Story Source:

Materials provided by New Jersey Institute of Technology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Brooke E. Flammang, Apinun Suvarnaraksha, Julie Markiewicz, Daphne Soares. Tetrapod-like pelvic girdle in a walking cavefish. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 23711 DOI: 10.1038/srep23711

Cite This Page:

New Jersey Institute of Technology. "Blind cavefish can walk and climb waterfalls like four-footed mammals and amphibians." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 March 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160324133022.htm>.
New Jersey Institute of Technology. (2016, March 24). Blind cavefish can walk and climb waterfalls like four-footed mammals and amphibians. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 18, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160324133022.htm
New Jersey Institute of Technology. "Blind cavefish can walk and climb waterfalls like four-footed mammals and amphibians." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160324133022.htm (accessed March 18, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES