{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T22:52:27Z","timestamp":1780959147678,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,1]],"date-time":"2026-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767225600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/journals\/pages\/open_access\/funder_policies\/chorus\/standard_publication_model"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IOS-2205928"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IOS-2205928"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Synopsis<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Over the course of development, sensory systems must integrate specialized cells and tissues to generate a functional unit. A robust example of this type of integration is the lateral line, a mechanosensory system in fishes and amphibians that senses changes in water movement. Over the past century, numerous reports noted that the principal organs of the lateral line\u2014neuromasts\u2014co-localize to the position of ossification centers for bones of the facial skeleton. More recent work in the freshwater model system, Astyanax mexicanus, revealed facial bones of the suborbital complex frequently fuse in a manner consistent with approximated neuromasts. In cave dwelling morphs, which lack a structural eye, positioning of the neuromasts encircling the orbit differ from closely related, eyed surface-dwelling morphs. This suggests facial bone fusion patterns are a function of eye regression, which interferes with neuromast positioning early in development. Here, we compared adult bone fusion patterns from individuals derived from three cavefish populations derived from at least two independent cave colonizations\u2014the Pach\u00f3n, Tinaja, and Molino caves. Interestingly, despite established asymmetries impacting the cavefish craniofacial complex, no asymmetric bias was observed in facial bone fusion. Surface fish showed minimal fusion, however cave morphs showed substantial facial bone fusion, which varied in severity by cave population. Facial bone fusion is therefore not a simple function of eye regression, since each eyeless cavefish population harbored different patterns of fusion severity. We propose intra-population variation in bone fusion is a function of the timing of eye degeneration. Early and rapid eye degeneration (as in Pach\u00f3n cavefish) likely has a more profound effect on neuromast positioning, and consequential bone fusion patterns. Tinaja and Molino cavefish have slower and more gradual eye regression, likely interfering less with neuromast positioning. This results in fewer approximated neuromasts, and fusions between neighboring facial bones. This study showcases the integrated nature of sensory-skeletal development, a poorly understood phenomenon. Moreover, aberrations impacting this integration\u2014such as eye loss in cave dwelling fish\u2014can lead to remarkable intraspecific (and intra-population) variation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/icb\/icag004","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T12:39:01Z","timestamp":1768999141000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Sensory-Skeletal Integration Underlies Diverse Bone Fusion Patterns in a Complex Demography of Cavefish"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"66","author":[{"given":"Alyssa R","family":"Hamm","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Cincinnati Department of Biological Sciences, , Cincinnati, Ohio 45221 ,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ally J","family":"Angst","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Cincinnati Department of Biological Sciences, , Cincinnati, Ohio 45221 ,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Austin C","family":"Russell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Cincinnati Department of Biological Sciences, , Cincinnati, Ohio 45221 ,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0032-1053","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joshua B","family":"Gross","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Cincinnati Department of Biological Sciences, , Cincinnati, Ohio 45221 ,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib1","author":"Allis","year":"1898","journal-title":"The Anatomy and Development of the Lateral Line System in Amia Calva"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib2","first-page":"401","article-title":"The latero-sensory canals and related bones in fishes","volume":"21","author":"Allis","year":"1904","journal-title":"J Anat Physiol"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"763","DOI":"10.1643\/CI-15-339","article-title":"Morphological evolution of the cave-, spring-, and swampfishes of the Amblyopsidae (Percopsiformes)","volume":"104","author":"Armbruster","year":"2016","journal-title":"Copeia"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"R23","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2007.11.023","article-title":"Restoring sight in blind cavefish","volume":"18","author":"Borowsky","year":"2008","journal-title":"Curr Biol"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib5","first-page":"131","article-title":"Ocular anatomy and light sensitivity studies on the blind fish from Cueva de los Sabinos, Mexico","volume":"29","author":"Breder","year":"1944","journal-title":"Zoologica"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"msaf185","DOI":"10.1093\/molbev\/msaf185","article-title":"Convergent evolution in amblyopsid cavefishes and the age of Eastern North American subterranean ecosystems","volume":"42","author":"Brownstein","year":"2025","journal-title":"Mol Biol Evol"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"229","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4612-3560-6_11","article-title":"Some observations on the forces acting on neuromasts in fish lateral line canals","volume-title":"The Mechanosensory Lateral Line","author":"Denton","year":"1989"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e50308","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0050308","article-title":"Early lens ablation causes dramatic long-term effects on the shape of bones in the craniofacial skeleton of Astyanax mexicanus","volume":"7","author":"Dufton","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5962\/bhl.title.4078","volume-title":"Cave Vertebrates of America: a Study in Degenerative Evolution","author":"Eigenmann","year":"1909"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1523","DOI":"10.1002\/cne.24835","article-title":"Retinal morphology in Astyanax mexicanus during eye degeneration","volume":"528","author":"Emam","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Comp Neurol"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5626","DOI":"10.1111\/mec.17128","article-title":"Phylogeographic relationships and morphological evolution between cave and surface Astyanax mexicanus populations (De Filippi 1853) (Actinopterygii, Characidae)","volume":"32","author":"Gardu\u00f1o-S\u00e1nchez","year":"2023","journal-title":"Mol Ecol"},{"key":"2026052212191432400_bib12","unstructured":"Garnier S, Ross N, Rudis R, Camargo AP, Sciaini M, Scherer C. 2024. viridis (Lite)\u2014Colorblind-friendly Color Maps for R. viridis package version 0.6. 5. 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