Editing Northern cavefish

<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Poulson |first1=T. L |title=Adaptations of cave fishes with some comparisons to deep-sea fishes |journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes |volume=62 |issue=2001 |pages=345-364}}</ref>{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{speciesbox
| image         = Amblyopsis spelaea.jpg
| image_upright = 1.2
| status        = NT
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref    = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=NatureServe |date=2014 |title=''Amblyopsis spelaea'' |volume=2014 |page=e.T1080A19034608 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T1080A19034608.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus         = Amblyopsis
| species       = spelaea
| authority     = [[James Ellsworth De Kay|DeKay]], 1842
}}

The '''northern cavefish''' or '''northern blindfish''' ('''''Amblyopsis spelaea''''') is found [[Cavefish|in caves]] through [[Kentucky]] and southern [[Indiana]]. The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] lists the species as near threatened.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/>

The life cycle of northern cavefish includes a protolarval stage.  In this stage, eggs and those that have recently hatched into protolarvae are kept by the mother internally in a gill chamber.  Juveniles become free swimming and can leave.  The northern cavefish lives to a maximum age of at least ten years and reaches sexual maturity at approximately six years of age.<ref name=fr88>{{cite journal|journal=Federal Register|title=Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Seven Species Not Warranted for Listing as Endangered or Threatened Species|pages=83368–83377|author=((U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Species Assessment Team, Ecological Services Program))|volume=88|issue=228|date=29 November 2023}} {{Federal Register|88|83368}}</ref>{{rp|83374}}

During a 2013 study of ''Amblyopsis spelaea'', scientists found that the species was divided into two distinct evolutionary lineages: one north of the [[Ohio River]], in Indiana, and one south of the river, in [[Kentucky]].  The southern population retained the name ''A. spelaea'' and the northern was re-designated ''[[Amblyopsis hoosieri]]'' in a 2014 paper published in the journal ''[[ZooKeys]]''.<ref name="ZooKeys">{{cite journal |last1=Chakrabarty |first1=Prosanta |last2=Prejean |first2=Jacques A. |last3=Niemiller |first3=Matthew L. |date=May 29, 2014 |title=The Hoosier cavefish, a new and endangered species (Amblyopsidae, ''Amblyopsis'') from the caves of southern Indiana |journal=[[ZooKeys]] |publisher=Pensoft |issue=412 |pages=41–57 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.412.7245|pmc=4042695 |pmid=24899861|doi-access=free|bibcode=2014ZooK..412...41C }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Howard |first=Brian Clark |date=May 30, 2014 |title=Blind Hoosier Cavefish: Freshwater Species of the Week |url=http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/30/blind-hoosier-cavefish-freshwater-species-of-the-week/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207165016/http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/30/blind-hoosier-cavefish-freshwater-species-of-the-week/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 7, 2014 |website=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |access-date=January 23, 2015 }}</ref> Neither species is found north of the [[White River (Indiana)|White River]], flowing east to west south of [[Bedford, Indiana]].

The northern cavefish was under consideration for listing under the [[Endangered Species Act]], however, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found in 2023 that despite the loss of two [[metapopulation]]s of ''A. spelaea'', listing was not warranted, as the four metapopulations that still exist had sufficient redundancy of subpopulations to mitigate threats.<ref name=fr88/>  The metapopulations are divided among two units that are separated by the [[Rough Creek Fault Zone]].  Threats to the species include habitat degradation, especially by groundwater contamination from encroaching agricultural operations, cities and industry, forest loss and surface water impoundment.Behavior The Northern Cave Fish hunts in a special way since it can't see. It has tiny sensing spots all over its body that can feel when food is swimming nearby, even in complete darkness.[1] These fish can tell there's food around just by feeling the movements in the water, even when the food is several finger-lengths away.[1]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{FishBase species|genus=Amblyopsis|species=spelaea|year=2005|month=10}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2842127}}

[[Category:Amblyopsidae]]
[[Category:Cave fish]]
[[Category:Fish of North America|Cavefish, Northern]]
[[Category:Fish of the United States]]
[[Category:Fish described in 1842]]
[[Category:Taxa named by James Ellsworth De Kay]]
[[Category:Mammoth Cave National Park]]


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