Alabama Cavefish

Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni

About This Fish

The Alabama Cavefish is only found in a single cave along the Tennessee River in northwest Alabama. This federally endangered species resides in pools with little flow. Alabama Cavefish are completely adapted for life in total darkness, lacking eyes, pigment, and pelvic fins, as well as having extensive sensory canals and papillae to detect water movement to navigate, find prey, and avoid predation. They differ from all other cavefishes by having a long flat head constricted behind the snout, unbranched fin rays, and incised fin membranes. The more common and widespread Southern Cavefish (Typhlichthys subterraneus) also occurs in the same range as Alabama Cavefish.

Amblyopsidae >

Speoplatyrhinus

Alabama (AL)

Pickwick Lake – 06030005

Literature

Kuhajda, B.R., and B.L. Fluker. 2010. Status of the endangered Alabama Cavefish Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni. Report to Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Montgomery, Alabama, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Daphne, Alabama and Jackson, Mississippi.

USFWS (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 2010. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; 5-year status reviews of 10 southeastern species. Federal Register 75:18233-18234. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2010-04-09/pdf/2010-8103.pdf#page=1

Kuhajda, B.R. 2009. Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni – Alabama Cavefish, p. 14. In: The Desperate Dozen: Southeastern Freshwater Fishes on the Brink. B. R. Kuhajda, A. L. George, and J. D. Williams (eds.). Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings 51:10-30. https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1168&context=sfcproceedings

Kuhajda, B. R. 2004a. The impact of the proposed Eddie Frost Commerce Park on Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni, the Alabama Cavefish, a federally endangered species restricted to Key Cave, Lauderdale County, Alabama. Endangered Species Update 21(2):57-65. https://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA118890376&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=10813705&p=AONE&sw=w

Kuhajda, B.R. 2004b. Alabama Cavefish, Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni, p. 181-182. In: Alabama Wildlife, Volume 2. Imperiled Aquatic Mollusks and Fishes. R. E. Mirarchi, J. T. Garner, M. F. Mettee, and P. E. O’Neal (eds.). University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

Kuhajda, B.R. 2004c. Alabama Cavefish, Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni, p. 132. In: Alabama Wildlife, Volume 4. Conservation and Management Recommendations for Imperiled Wildlife. R. E. Mirarchi, M. A. Bailey, J. T. Garner, T. M. Haggerty, T. L. Best, M. F. Mettee, and P. E. O’Neil (eds.). University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

Kuhajda, B.R., and R.L. Mayden. 2001. Status of the federally endangered Alabama Cavefish, Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni (Amblyopsidae), in Key Cave and surrounding caves, Alabama. Environmental Biology of Fishes 62:215-222. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bernard_Kuhajda/publication/226076110_Status_of_the_Federally_Endangered_Alabama_Cavefish_Speoplatyrhinus_Poulsoni_Amblyopsidae_in_Key_Cave_and_surrounding_Caves_Alabama/links/53fb4e6e0cf2e3cbf56625a7.pdf

Romero, A. 1998. Threatened fishes of the world: Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni Cooper & Kuehne, 1974 (Amblyopsidae). Environmental Biology of Fishes 53:293-294.

USFWS (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 1990. Alabama Cavefish, Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni Cooper and Kuehne 1974 (second revision) recovery plan. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jackson, Mississippi.

Cobb, R.M. 1989. An attempt to secure a cavefish for identification in Bell Cave, Colbert County, Alabama. Report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jackson, Mississippi.

USFWS (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 1988. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; reclassification of the Alabama Cavefish from threatened to endangered. Federal Register 53:37968-37970. https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/federal_register/fr1478.pdf

Cobb, R.M. 1986. An attempt to collect specimens of cavefish at three caves in northwestern Alabama. Report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jackson, Mississippi.

Cobb, R.M. 1985. A reconnaissance of caves in Lauderdale and Colbert counties, Alabama for the Alabama Cavefish, Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni. Report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jackson, Mississippi.

USFWS (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 1985. Revised recovery plan for the Alabama Cavefish, Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni Cooper and Kuehne 1974. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

USFWS (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 1982. Alabama Cavefish recovery plan. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

USFWS (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 1977. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; final threatened status and critical habitat for five species of southeastern species. Federal Register 42:45526-45530. https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/federal_register/fr159.pdf

Cooper, J.E., and R.A. Kuehne. 1974. Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni, a new genus and species of subterranean fish from Alabama. Copeia 1974:486-493. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1442539?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Alabama Cavefish

Literature

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