Spring Cavefish
Forbesichthys agassizii (Putnam, 1872)
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Subphylum | Vertebrata |
| Class | Actinopterygii |
| Order | Percopsiformes |
| Family | Amblyopsidae |
| Genus | Forbesichthys |
| Species | Forbesichthys agassizii (Putnam, 1872) |
Description
Diagnostic characters
- Ecological class
- Stygophile
- Realm
- Aquatic
Distribution
Range
Known from three counties in Tennessee.
Continent
North America
Country
United States
States and provinces
Tennessee
Counties
- Tennessee
- Coffee, DeKalb, Wilson
Conservation and management
IUCN Red List
LC Least Concern
Assessed in 2013.
NatureServe
GNR Unranked
National ranks
- United States
- NNR
Subnational ranks
- Tennessee
- S4 Apparently Secure
State and federal status
Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act
References
- 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. 1898. The Amblyopsidae and eyes of blind fishes [abstract]. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 1897: 230–231. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14629164.
- Eigenmann, C.H. 1899. Notes on the blind fishes. Science 9: 370.
- 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., Higgs, D.M. & Soares, D. 2013. Evidence for hearing loss in amblyopsid cavefishes. Biology Letters 9: 20130104. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0104
- Niemiller, M.L., Fitzpatrick, B.M., Shah, P., Schmitz, L. & Near, T.J. 2013. 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
- 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
- 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.
How to cite this account
Forbesichthys agassizii (Putnam, 1872). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1718. https://cavebiology.org/species/forbesichthys-agassizii/ (accessed 7 September 2026).
Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.
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