Re: Why do cave animals evolve to become albinos?

Hello Dan!  Wow.  This question most definately got me thinking.  All I 
can figure is that the deveolopment and upkeep of pigment carries enough 
cost that the fish who are dull have more energy to devote to other 
things. Now, the flaw in this argument is this- just how much energy does 
it take to carry around pigment?  I suspect that the adaptataion of 
albinism is not very proactive.  For example, the adaptation of white 
pepper moths to they're black counterpart was extremely proactive, as if 
you were white, you would be eaten.  But with albino fish, I'll bet that 
the albino mutations, back in the day when the  cave fish were still tetra 
colored, did just fine in the area of reproduction and feeding.  No 
drawbacks, you see.  Perhaps the albino mutants even had some sort of 
benefit, what exactly I don't know, but maybe the albinism is linked to a 
better olfactory sense or the like.  This is my best answer, Dan.  Hope it 
satisfies your quest!
Cheers
Jen Paur Superstar