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Amblyopsis spelaea DeKay, 1842

Northern cavefish
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Image of Amblyopsis spelaea (Northern cavefish)
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drawing shows typical species in Amblyopsidae.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Percopsiformes (Trout-perches, pirate perches and cavefishes) > Amblyopsidae (Cavefishes)
Etymology: Amblyopsis: Greek, amblys = darkness + Greek, ops = shape (Ref. 45335).
More on author: DeKay.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal; non-migratory. Temperate; 39°N - 37°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North America: Indiana and Kentucky, U.S.A.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5723); common length : 6.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 11; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 8 - 11; Vertebrae: 29 - 30. 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.
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Blind and depigmented. Despite the lack of eyes it does respond to light and moves away from it (scotophilia). Inhabits subterranean water or caves which have consolidated mud-rock substrates in shoals and silt-sand substrates in pools but is more often found in caves with uniform silt-sand substrates (Ref. 34868). Has low reproduction rate and broods eggs in gill cavity for up to 4-5 months (Ref. 557; 34868; 27795). Can live for 2 years without food because of low metabolic rate (Ref. 5326). Top predator.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Female incubates eggs in gill cavities (Ref. 7471).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Romero, A. and L. Bennis, 1998. Threatened fishes of the world: Amblyopsis spelaea DeKay, 1842 (Amblyopsidae). Environ. Biol. Fishes 51(4):420. (Ref. 27795)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Near Threatened (NT) ; Date assessed: 04 August 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
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Length-weight rel.
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6331   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.4   ±0.39 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 5.5 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.20; low reproductive rate (Refs. 34868; 27795).).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (37 of 100). 🛈