A new comparative study led by fourth-year graduate student Kaitlyn Fouke (Naumann Lab) shows how two teleost fish species, zebrafish and the miniature microglass fish Danionella cerebrum, use evolutionarily conserved neural circuits to produce distinct swimming during the visually guided optomotor response. By combining behavioral tracking with whole-brain calcium imaging, these two methods show that while both species process visual motion through similar neural pathways, D. cerebrum swims continuously with interspersed sharp turns, in contrast to the zebrafish's burst-and-glide patterns. The work identifies shared neural mechanisms for directional control on top of the species-specific continuous or intermittent swimming drive, possibly reflecting D. cerebrum's adaptation to deeper, turbid waters. This research provides a new framework for understanding how similar neural architectures can generate diverse behavioral strategies across teleost species.
Read the full study in Science Direct.