Northern Cavefish (Fishes of the Upper Green River, KY)

Northern Cavefish

Amblyopsis spelaea

Summary ³

The northern cavefish or northern blindfish, Amblyopsis spelaea, is found in caves through Kentucky and southern Indiana. It is listed as a threatened species in the United States and the IUCN lists the species as vulnerable.

Diagnostic description ⁴

Pink-white. No eyes (vestigial eye tissues under skin). Extremely small pelvic fins (rarely absent). Large, broad head. Caudal fin with 4-6 rows of papillae; 11-13 branched caudal rays.

Distribution ⁵

Global Range: (5000-20,000 square km (about 2000-8000 square miles)) Range includes the Pennyroyal and Mitchell plateaus, from the Mammoth Cave area, central Kentucky, north into south-central Indiana (Pearson and Boston 1994, Page and Burr 2011). This species is not known to occur in caves north of East Fork of White River in Indiana or in caves south or west of Mammoth Cave system (see map in Keith 1988).

Habitat and ecology ⁶

Habitat and Ecology

All of the Kentucky sites are cave streams; 11 of 45 Indiana sites are springs and/or spring basins (the rest are cave streams) (Keith 1988).

Systems

Freshwater

Iucn red list assessment ⁷

Red List Category

Near Threatened

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2014

Assessor/s

NatureServe

Reviewer/s

Smith, K. & Darwall, W.R.T.

Contributor/s

Justification

This species is listed as Near Threatened because its extent of occurrence is less than 20,000 sq km, habitat is narrowly restricted, and habitat quality and quantity may be declining. However, the species occurs in a fairly large number of locations, distribution may not be severely fragmented, and area of occupancy and population trend are unknown, so the species is close to but does not clearly meet the standards for the Vulnerable category.

History

1996

Vulnerable (VU)
1994

Vulnerable (V)
1990

Vulnerable (V)
1988

Vulnerable (V)
1986

Vulnerable (V)

Morphology ⁸

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 11; Analspines: 0; Analsoft rays: 8 - 11; Vertebrae: 29 - 30

Nature serve conservation status ⁹

Rounded Global Status Rank: G3 - Vulnerable

Reasons: Restricted to subterranean waters in Indiana and Kentucky (total of about 65 sites); most populations are small; habitat is highly vulnerable to alteration by human activities and natural events that affect ground water.

Sources and Credits

(c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=fishes&irn=5004555
National Park Service Digital Image Archives, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Mammoth_Cave_National_Park_EYELESSF.jpg
Adapted by rkkessler from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amblyopsis_spelaea
(c) FishBase, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/20981602
(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28748205
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34294323
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34294320
(c) FishBase, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/20981603
(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28748198

More Info

Range Map

iNat Map

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