Northern cavefish

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Northern cavefish

Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Percopsiformes
Family: Amblyopsidae
Genus: Amblyopsis
Species:
A. spelaea
Binomial name
Amblyopsis spelaea
DeKay, 1842

The northern cavefish or northern blindfish (Amblyopsis spelaea) is found in caves through Kentucky and southern Indiana. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as near threatened.[1]

The life cycle of northern cavefish includes a protolarval stage. In this stage, eggs and those that have recently hatched into protolarvae are kept by the mother internally in a gill chamber. Juveniles become free swimming and can leave. The northern cavefish lives to a maximum age of at least ten years and reaches sexual maturity at approximately six years of age.[2]: 83374 

During a 2013 study of Amblyopsis spelaea, scientists found that the species was divided into two distinct evolutionary lineages: one north of the

Amblyopsis hoosieri in a 2014 paper published in the journal ZooKeys.[3][4] Neither species is found north of the White River, flowing east to west south of Bedford, Indiana
.

The northern cavefish was under consideration for listing under the

Endangered Species Act, however, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found in 2023 that despite the loss of two metapopulations of A. spelaea, listing was not warranted, as the four metapopulations that still exist had sufficient redundancy of subpopulations to mitigate threats.[2] The metapopulations are divided among two units that are separated by the Rough Creek Fault Zone. Threats to the species include habitat degradation, especially by groundwater contamination from encroaching agricultural operations, cities and industry, forest loss and surface water impoundment.[2]
: 83374 

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T1080A19034608.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Species Assessment Team, Ecological Services Program (29 November 2023). "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Seven Species Not Warranted for Listing as Endangered or Threatened Species". Federal Register. 88 (228): 83368–83377. 88 FR 83368
  3. PMID 24899861
    .
  4. National Geographic. Archived from the original
    on December 7, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.


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