Hoosier Cavefish
Amblyopsis hoosieri Niemiller, Prejean & Chakrabarty, 2014
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Subphylum | Vertebrata |
| Class | Actinopterygii |
| Order | Percopsiformes |
| Family | Amblyopsidae |
| Genus | Amblyopsis |
| Species | Amblyopsis hoosieri Niemiller, Prejean & Chakrabarty, 2014 |
Description
Diagnostic characters
- Ecological class
- Stygobiont
- Realm
- Aquatic
- Troglomorphy
- Troglomorphic
- Maximum length
- 90 mm
Distribution
Type locality
Bronson's Cave, Lawrence Co., IN
Range
Known from eight counties in Indiana in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.
Continent
North America
Country
United States
States and provinces
Indiana
Counties
- Indiana
- Converse, Crawford, Harrison, Lawrence, Lawrence Co. (IN), Monroe, Orange, Washington
Karst regions
Interior Low Plateau
Genetics
Molecular resources
| Marker | Molecule | Sequences | Length | Exemplar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| genome | nuclear | 1 | GCA_027564755.1 |
1 sequence, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.
Download all 1 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.
- Nuclear genome
- Available
Specimens
Type material
- Holotype
- 91988 · California Academy of Sciences
- Paratype ×2
- LSU Museum of Natural Science
- Paratype ×2
- Yale Peabody Museum
Collections holding material
| Institution | Lots |
|---|---|
| Field Museum of Natural History | 13 |
| University of Michigan Museum of Zoology | 12 |
| California Academy of Sciences | 10 |
| University of Arkansas Collections Facility | 5 |
| Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt | 3 |
| Yale Peabody Museum | 3 |
| and 13 other collections | 17 |
63 cataloged lots in 19 collections. Compiled from GBIF and not an exhaustive census: many collections are not yet digitised, and holdings are added continually. Search GBIF for specimen records.
Download all 63 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.
Conservation and management
NatureServe
G2 Imperiled
Global rank last reviewed 5 July 2017.
Subnational ranks
- Indiana
- S1 Critically Imperiled
Ranks looked up 23 August 2026. Conservation status changes, and a rank here is as current as that date and no more.
State and federal status
Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Threats
- Urbanization - Residential
- Urbanization - Comm. & Industrial
- Agriculture - Crops
- Agriculture - Livestock
- Agriculture - Logging
- Mining & Quarrying
- Overcollection - Amateur
- Dams & Water Extraction
- Pollution -Sewage or Urban Wastewater
- Pollution - Commercial/Industrial
- Pollution - Agricultural & Forestry
Other resources
References
- Adams, G.L., Burr, B.M. & Warren, Jr., M.L. 2020. Chapter 21. Amblyopsidae: cavefishes. In: Warren, Jr., M.L & Burr, B.M. (eds), Freshwater Fishes of North America. Volume 2. Characidae to Poeciliidae, pp. 281–321. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Armbruster, J.A., Niemiller, M.L. & Hart, P.B. 2016. Morphological evolution of the cave-, spring-, and swampfishes of the Amblyopsidae (Percopsiformes). Copeia 104: 763–777.
- Banta, A.M. 1907. The fauna of Mayfield's Cave. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 67: 1–114. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/60987. details
- Cox, U.O. 1905. A revision of the cave fishes of North America. Appendix to the Report of the Commissioner of Fisheries to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Year Ending June 30, 1904. Bureau of Fisheries, U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor, Washington, DC, USA. 377–393.
- Eigenmann, C.H. 1897. The Amblyopsidae, the blind fish of America. Report of the British Association for the Advacement of Science 1897: 685–686. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30118215. details
- Eigenmann, C.H. 1898b. The Amblyopsidae and eyes of blind fishes [abstract]. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 1897: 230–231. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14629164. details
- Eigenmann, C.H. 1905. Divergence and convergence in fishes. Biological Bulletin 8: 59–66. doi:10.2307/1535853
- Gage, L. 2025. Preliminary observation of terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial fauna in Breathing Hole Cave. Northern Indiana Grotto Newsletter: 1–7.
- Hart, P.B., Rincon-Sandoval, M., Melendez-Vazquex, F., Armbruster, J.W., Troyer, E.M., Bierstein, O.M., Gough, B.J., Betancur-R, R., Niemiller, M.L. & Arcila, D. 2025. Ancient climate changes and relaxed selection shape cave colonization in North American cavefishes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 292: 20242516. doi:10.1098/rspb.2024.2516
- Lewis, J.J. 2002k. Conservation assessment for Northern Cavefish (Amblyopsis spelaea). U.S. Forest Service, Eastern Region, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. 10 pp.
- Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
- Niemiller, M.L., Fitzpatrick, B.M., Shah, P., Schmitz, L. & Near, T.J. 2013d. Evidence for repeated loss of selective constraint in rhodopsin of amblyopsid cavefishes (Teleostei: Amblyopsidae). Evolution 67: 732–748. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01822.x
- Niemiller, M.L., McCandless, J.R., Reynolds, R.G., Caddle, J., Near, T.J., Tillquist, C.R., Pearson, W.D. & Fitzpatrick, B.M. 2013b. Effects of climatic and geological processes during the Pleistocene on the evolutionary history of the northern cavefish, Amblyopsis spelaea (Teleostei: Amblyopsidae). Evolution 67: 1011–1025. doi:10.1111/evo.12017
- Niemiller, M.L., Near, T.J. & Fitzpatrick, B.M. 2012a. Delimiting species using multilocus data: diagnosing cryptic diversity in the southern cavefish, Typhlichthys subterraneus (Teleostei: Amblyopsidae). Evolution 66: 846–866. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01480.x
- Poly, W.J. & Proudlove, G.S. 2004. Family Amblyopsidae Bonaparte 1846: cavefishes. California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes 25: 1–7.
- Poulson, T.L. 1961. Cave adaptation in amblyopsid cavefishes. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. 185 pp. doi:10.7302/9847
- Poulson, T.L. 1963. Cave adaptation in amblyopsid cavefishes. The American Midland Naturalist 70: 257–290. doi:10.2307/2423056
- Putnam, F.W. 1872. The blind fishes of the Mammoth Cave and their allies. The American Naturalist 6: 6–30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2446708. details
- Romero, A. & Conner, M. 2007. Status report for the southern cavefish, Typhlichthys subterraneus in Arkansas. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. 37 pp. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bb_pubs/296/. details
- Swofford, D.L. 1976. Genetic variability, population differentiation and biochemical relationships in the family Amblyopsidae. Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky, USA. 193 pp.
- Woods, L.P. & Inger, R.F. 1957. The cave, spring, and swamp fishes of the family Amblyopsidae of central and eastern United States. The American Midland Naturalist 58: 232–256. doi:10.2307/2422371
This account was last revised 28 August 2026. Conservation ranks were looked up 23 August 2026.
How to cite this account
Amblyopsis hoosieri Niemiller, Prejean & Chakrabarty, 2014. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1353. https://cavebiology.org/species/amblyopsis-hoosieri/ (accessed 18 October 2026).
Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.
Spotted something wrong on this page? Report a correction. Accounts are compiled from many sources and corrections from people who know the group are the most useful email we get.