Cavefish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iCavefishes

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Percopsiformes
Family:	Amblyopsidae

Genera

Amblyopsis
Chologaster
Forbesichthys
Speoplatyrhinus
Typhlichthys
See text for species.

The cavefishes are a family (Amblyopsidae) of fish found in caves and adapted to life in the dark, notably lacking eyes and having a pale or whitish color. They are all found in the southern and eastern United States.

Cavefishes are generally small, ranging up to 11 cm in length. Most lack pelvic fins, although Amblyopsis spelaea has small ones with up to six rays.

Cavefishes can only be found in caves that have streams running into them; a cave with no inlets (such as Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas) will not contain cavefishes. They are believed to have been evolved from their aboveground counterparts.

[edit] Species

The family includes six species in five genera:

Genus Amblyopsis
- Ozark cavefish, Amblyopsis rosae (Eigenmann, 1898).
- Northern cavefish, Amblyopsis spelaea DeKay, 1842.
Genus Chologaster
- Swampfish, Chologaster cornuta Agassiz, 1853.
Genus Forbesichthys
- Spring cavefish, Forbesichthys agassizii (Putnam, 1872).
Genus Speoplatyrhinus
- Alabama cavefish, Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni Cooper & Kuehne, 1974.
Genus Typhlichthys
- Southern cavefish, Typhlichthys subterraneus Girard, 1859.