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Accepted Manuscript
Research Article
Diversity in rest-activity patterns among Lake Malawi cichlid fishes suggests a novel axis of habitat partitioning
Evan Lloyd, Brian Chhouk, Andrew J. Conith, Alex C. Keene, R. Craig Albertson
Journal of Experimental Biology 2021 : jeb.242186 doi: 10.1242/jeb.242186 Published 3 March 2021
Evan Lloyd
1Department of Biological Science, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, FL 33401, USA
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Brian Chhouk
2Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
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Andrew J. Conith
2Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
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Alex C. Keene
1Department of Biological Science, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, FL 33401, USA
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R. Craig Albertson
2Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
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  • ORCID record for R. Craig Albertson
  • For correspondence: albertson@bio.umass.edu
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Abstract

Animals display remarkable diversity in rest and activity patterns that are regulated by endogenous foraging strategies, social behaviors, and predator avoidance. Alteration in the circadian timing of activity or the duration of rest-wake cycles provide a central mechanism for animals to exploit novel niches. The diversity of the 3000+ cichlid species throughout the world provides a unique opportunity to examine variation in locomotor activity and rest. Lake Malawi alone is home to over 500 species of cichlids that display divergent behaviors and inhabit well-defined niches throughout the lake. These species are presumed to be diurnal, though this has never been tested systematically. Here, we measure locomotor activity across the circadian cycle in 11 Lake Malawi cichlid species. We document surprising variability in the circadian time of locomotor activity and the duration of rest. In particular, we identify a single species, Tropheops sp. “red cheek” that is nocturnal. Nocturnal behavior was maintained when fish were provided shelter, but not under constant darkness, suggesting it results from acute response to light rather than an endogenous circadian rhythm. Finally, we show that nocturnality is associated with increased eye size after correcting for evolutionary history, suggesting a link between visual processing and nighttime activity. Together, these findings identify diversity of locomotor behavior in Lake Malawi cichlids and provide a system for investigating the molecular and neural basis underlying variation in nocturnal activity.

  • Received December 22, 2020.
  • Accepted February 11, 2021.
  • © 2021. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.

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Keywords

  • Cichlid
  • Circadian rhythm
  • Comparative behavior

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Accepted Manuscript
Research Article
Diversity in rest-activity patterns among Lake Malawi cichlid fishes suggests a novel axis of habitat partitioning
Evan Lloyd, Brian Chhouk, Andrew J. Conith, Alex C. Keene, R. Craig Albertson
Journal of Experimental Biology 2021 : jeb.242186 doi: 10.1242/jeb.242186 Published 3 March 2021
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Accepted Manuscript
Research Article
Diversity in rest-activity patterns among Lake Malawi cichlid fishes suggests a novel axis of habitat partitioning
Evan Lloyd, Brian Chhouk, Andrew J. Conith, Alex C. Keene, R. Craig Albertson
Journal of Experimental Biology 2021 : jeb.242186 doi: 10.1242/jeb.242186 Published 3 March 2021

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