The interaction between functional constraints and selective pressures may bias the evolution of morphofunctional traits in response to ecological factors. Adaptation to the conditions of cave environments has resulted in the development of some troglomorphic traits in fishes; however, variation in body shape and sensory systems have not been adequately assessed dimensions as an adaptive response to subterranean life. We analyzed morphological differentiation and sensory adaptations of Trichomycteridae catfish species inhabiting cave and surface environments in Colombia as potentially adaptive morphofunctional responses to cave life in distinct Trichomycterus lineages as evidence of convergence mediated by adaptive evolution. Geometric morphometric analyses revealed significant differences in body shape between cave and surface populations related to functional adaptations to habitat-specific ecological pressures in different clades, such as maneuverability versus sustained swimming. In addition, anatomical analyses of sensory receptors in the maxillary barbels showed different spatial arrangements between cave and surface species, suggesting adaptive modifications in sensory systems to compensate for vision loss in subterranean environments. The repeated patterns of morphological and sensory adaptation observed in different lineages underscore the influence of environmental constraints on the phenotypic evolution of Trichomycteridae catfishes. Our study contributes to a deeper understanding of convergent adaptive evolution in response to habitat specialization and underscores the importance of accounting for morphofunctional adaptations when assessing adaptive strategies of cave-dwelling species.
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