Rhodopsin is a light-sensitive protein crucial for dim-light vision, mediating visual tasks that are essential for survival in many species. Flatfishes are a diverse and economically important group of fishes occupying a wide array of environments, but the molecular evolution of genes involved in vision remain poorly understood in this group of fishes..
In collaboration with Esme Macpherson and colleagues from Nathan Lovejoy’s lab at UTSC, this study investigated how the light environments inhabited by different flatfish lineages have shaped evolution in the rhodopsin gene, finding evidence for adaptive evolution that appears to be associated with aspects of their ecology such as migratory behaviour and habitat depth. These results highlight the potential for molecular adaptation in response to shifts in ecology.