POPULATION GENOMICS OF THE SOUTHERN CAVEFISH (TYPHLICHTHYS SUBTERRANEUS)

The evolutionary and biogeographic histories of widespread subterranean organisms remains a poorly understood facet of biology. The Southern Cavefish, Typhlichthys subterraneus, occurs throughout the eastern United States and spans myriad isolated cave systems as well as numerous aquifers and river basins. Previous research using a few mitochondrial and nuclear loci suggest that there may be several distinct lineages dispersed within and across these geographic barriers; however, the number of lineages and the relationships among these lineages as well as how these lineages correspond with geographic features such as river basins and aquifer networks remains unclear. To assess the complex evolutionary and biogeographic history of T. subterraneus, we collected genomic data from 700 ultraconserved element (UCE) loci. We sampled six of the nine hypothesized T. subterraneus lineages that are distributed across their range, newly discovered populations, and several closely related taxa (i.e., Amblyopsis and Forbesichthys). This work will provide insight into the patterns and modes of diversification among subterranean organism as well as inform further phylogenomic analyses on T. subterraneus.