Troglobite

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A troglobite is an animal that lives entirely in the dark parts of caves that have a specific humidity and air mix. Troglobites have become specifically adapted for life in total darkness. Over time they evolve such that they lose anatomical features that are superfluous in the absence of light, such as functioning eyes and pigmentation, often leading to a translucent appearance. To compensate for the lack of vision, troglobites have highly developed senses of smell, taste and vibration detection. Specific examples include crickets, spiders, flies, planthoppers, earwigs, millipedes, centipedes, and cave crickets. Troglobites are often endemic to a specific site, that is, a species or sub-species only exists in that location and has adapted to that location's particular environment and food sources.

Closely related to the troglobite is the stygobite. Stygobites are mostly differentiated by the fact that they live in underground water sources rather than just in underground environments. This family includes blind cave fish, fish, shrimp and crayfish.

Troglobites' food sources are scarce and they often rely on underground water sources, or the remains of food brought in by other cave dwellers that feed outside the cave (trogloxenes). This makes them reliant on the surrounding ecosystem. Any change in that environment, or intrusion of humans into their underground home, could disturb their delicate world and threaten their precarious existence. Mining and agriculture are two of the main threats for these tiny creatures, as these two activities change groundwater flows and disrupt the environment on a regional scale; mining in particular is a serious threat.

There are countless varieties of troglobites and very little is known about their distribution, but scientists are identifying many new species and sub-species every year.

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