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The cavefish Astyanax mexicanus

Astyanax mexicanus exists in two forms: a surface form that is abundantly distributed throughout freshwater bodies in Middle America and a blind subterranean form endemic to caves in northeastern Mexico. These diverse fish populations have become a vertebrate model for investigating the genetic basis of environmental adaptation.

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Fig. 1: The research organism.

Stowers Institute

Fig. 2: Pan-neuronally expressing Ca2+ indicator (GCaMP) transgenic line of Astyanax mexicanus.

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Acknowledgements

I thank the current and former members of my lab, who make coming to work every day a pleasure, and the Stowers Institute for its generous support. I also thank the cavefish community for being the most supportive and collaborative community out there, which makes it truly special to be a part of. Our research is supported by NIH New Innovator Award 1DP2AG071466-01.

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Correspondence to Nicolas Rohner.

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Rohner, N. The cavefish Astyanax mexicanus. Nat Methods 20, 948–950 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-023-01916-w

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