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Cave Biology Data Portal
Subterranean biodiversity of North America and around the globe
AnimaliaChordataVertebrataActinopterygiiPercopsiformesAmblyopsidaeAmblyopsis

Northern Cavefish
Amblyopsis spelaea DeKay, 1842

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Actinopterygii
Order Percopsiformes
Family Amblyopsidae
Genus Amblyopsis
Species Amblyopsis spelaea DeKay, 1842

Synonyms

Amblyopsis spelea DeKay, 1842
Amblyopsis spelaeus DeKay, 1842

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Stygobiont
Realm
Aquatic
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic
Maximum body length
90 mm

Distribution

Type locality

River Styx, Mammoth Cave, Edmonson Co., KY

Range

Known from Kentucky in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Kentucky

Counties

County-level records have not been compiled for this taxon. Distribution is recorded at state and karst-region level.

Karst regions

Interior Low Plateau

Genetics

Molecular resources

MarkerMoleculeSequences LengthExemplar
other unknown 232 484-834 bp OR607783.1
ND mitochondrial 72 1044-1044 bp JX977944.1
RAG1 nuclear 72 1404-1431 bp JX978084.1
genome nuclear 3 GCA_046255685.1
16S mitochondrial 2 537-583 bp JX121823.1
28S nuclear 1 654-654 bp JX121774.1
COI mitochondrial 1 640-640 bp KY873723.1
H3 nuclear 1 333-333 bp JX121711.1

384 sequences, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.

Download all 384 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Nuclear genome
Available

Specimens

Type material

Type
YPM ICH 025294.001 · Yale Peabody Museum

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
Yale Peabody Museum 14
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 11
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 11
Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris 6
Naturalis Biodiversity Center 5
Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt 5
and 22 other collections 41

93 cataloged lots in 28 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 93 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

NT Near Threatened

EXEWCRENVUNT▲LC

Assessed in 2012.

NatureServe

G2G3 Imperiled to Vulnerable

G1G2▲G3▲G4G5

Global rank last reviewed 5 July 2017.

Subnational ranks

Kentucky
S3 Vulnerable

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

Threats

  • Dams & Water Extraction
  • Pollution -Sewage or Urban Wastewater
  • Pollution - Commercial/Industrial
  • Pollution - Agricultural & Forestry

Other resources

Catalogue of Life
CMRC
GBIF
5212776
ITIS
164395
iNaturalist
93829
NCBI Taxonomy
1195602

How to cite this account

Amblyopsis spelaea DeKay, 1842. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1354. https://cavebiology.org/species/amblyopsis-spelaea/ (accessed 3 September 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.

Cave Biology Data Portal

Species accounts, distributions, and conservation status for the subterranean fauna of North America and around the globe, with resources for the cave and karst research community.

Text and data CC BY 4.0. Images all rights reserved unless stated.

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