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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Fish forgo sleep thanks to a molecule in the brain

Chemical helps blind cavefish to survive on catnaps.
Comparison of Astyanax mexicanus surface fish and Pachón cavefish

Mexican cavefish (right) lack eyes and sleep little, whereas their relatives (left) that live on the surface have eyes and sleep a lot. Credit: J. B. Jaggard et al./eLife/CC BY 4.0

Even the most sleep-deprived human has nothing on a Mexican cavefish. These blind creatures have long been scientific curiosities because of their habit of sleeping just 1.5 hours a day on average — about four times less than related, sighted populations of the species (Astyanax mexicanus) that live at the surface.

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Nature 554, 406-407 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-01814-8

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