Multiple Pathways of Visual Adaptations for Water Column Usage in an Antarctic Adaptive Radiation

Evolutionary transitions in water column usage have played a major role in shaping ray-finned fish diversity. However, the extent to which vision-associated trait complexity and water column usage is coupled remains unclear. Here we investigated the relationship between depth niche, eye size, and the molecular basis of light detection across the Antarctic notothenioid adaptive radiation. Integrating a phylogenetic comparative framework with data on eye size and depth occupancy, we provide support for an acceleration in the rate of eye size diversification nearly 20 million years after the initial radiation. Our results further reveal that levels of eye size divergence are often highest between closely related taxa. We further analyzed opsin tuning site sequences and found changes representing repeated instances of independent tuning site changes across the notothenioid phylogeny that are generally not associated with habitat depth or species eye size. Collectively, our results strongly support that multiple evolutionary pathways underlie the diversification of visual adaptations in this iconic adaptive radiation.