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Inside the caves, although many times they can be inhospitable places due to their dark conditions, there is a great variety of species, some known and many others still undiscovered. From this point of view, both underwater caves and terrestrial caves are environments that generate special interest in the adaptations of the animals that live in them, which are called troglobes.
If you want to know more about the diversity associated with the fauna of the caves and its characteristics, keep reading this article by Ecologist Verde, where you can learn about 10 animals that live in caves, specifically that they only inhabit them.
Hausera hauseri
Hausera hauseri it is the only species that makes up the genus Hauseri. It is an organism that lives exclusively in the aquatic underground environment, which is known as stigobia. Adapted to the conditions of the environment it inhabits, this flatworm, located in the karst zone of Felipe Guerra -a hotspot located in the northeast of Brazil-, lacks body and eye pigments, both known adaptations of cave-dwelling animals.
Furthermore, as Leal-Zanchet, De Souza and Ferreira (2014) point out in their study, it stands out for its reproductive characteristics, such as, for example, the location of the ovaries at the back of the brain, in female specimens.
Texas blind salamander
Eurycea rathbuni it is an amphibian, as its name indicates, endemic to texas (U.S). Their appearance and functionality are the result of the dark conditions in which these salamanders have been submerged. Such is this that lack eyes and pigmentationThe skin being an organ that is very sensitive to possible changes in the environment (for example, changes in movement in the water), which even allows it to detect where its prey are located. In addition to all this, by living in environments that are aquatic, E. rathbuni, shows other adaptations, such as atrophy in its thin limbs, not having to support its weight, and the gills that allow it to breathe underwater.
The distribution of this dark and humid habitat is restricted to isolated and specific areas. In fact, it is only possible to see E. rathbuni in the state of Texas, more specifically in a network of caves in the city of San Marcos, where their main food is shrimp.
Currently, with less than 100 copies, its conservation status according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is considered in Danger of extinction in the United States, while, according to the IUCN, its status is one of vulnerability at a global level. Some of the threats faced by this species are: great sensitivity to any type of change in water quality that reduces its chances of survival (pollution by urban and industrial wastewater); the overexploitation of groundwater, which causes the lack of recharge of the aquifers; the massive collection of their specimens towards the decade of the 60s.
Ghost cave snail
The ghost cave snailPyrgulopsis texan) is an aquatic gastropod, with an operculum, belonging to the Hydrobiidae family. It is endemic to Texas and its geographic distribution is limited to three springs that are in the vicinity of the city of Balmorhea, specifically in the ghost cave, where it lives hard substrates.
Currently the population densities of the ghost cave snail are very low. Over time, its conservation status has deteriorated to considered vulnerable, according to the IUCN. The threats it faces are diverse: the decrease in the water table and the contamination of groundwater (mainly by herbicides and pesticides used in nearby agricultural areas) which has led to severe degradation and loss of its habitat; and the introduction of Melanoides sp., an exotic snail, whose impacts are unknown but possibly competing for space and resources with the native snail.
Finally, it should be noted that it is possible to find information on this species under the name Cochliopa texan, as this genus was initially assigned to it, however, after more detailed genetic studies it was taxonomically renamed to P. Texan.
Sinopoda scurion
Sinopoda scurion is the only one hunter spider, of the more than a thousand known species, which lacks eyes, probably as an adaptation to the absence of light in its habitat. This curious asparasid was discovered in 2012 by Peter Jäger in the Tham Khoun Xe Cave of the Xe Bang Fai river, in Laos. Also known as crab spider, S. scurion It can reach 6 cm in length with its legs and, like the rest of hunting spiders, it is capable of moving quickly and has great hunting skills. [1]
Image: Sciency Thoughts Blogspot
Eupolybothrus cavernicolus
East centipede about 30 mm long it lives in the Krka de Knin National Park (Croatia), specifically in the kárstikas Miljacka II and Miljacka IV caves. Its name is related to the fact that it is the first eukaryotic organism whose genetic profile is fully known.
Image: Wikipedia
Alabama Cave Shrimp
Palaemonias Alabama is a colorless shrimp that has historically been present in 4 caves in Alabama: Shelta, Bobcat, Herring-Glover and Muddy cave, being its habitat type the first of them. Among other characteristics, this species presents sexual dimorphism, the females being larger than the males, it feeds by filtration and its predator is Typhlichthys subterraneus, a stigobiotic fish.
In general, all of them are affected by overexploitation and contamination (by cadmium and other chemicals in Shelta) of groundwater, which has led to their conservation being considered in danger of extinction.
Coletinia majorensis
In 2014 it was discovered, in the Llano cave in Fuerteventura, Choletinia majorensis, a kind of caveman zigentome insect. It is the first record of the Coletinia genus, not only in the Canary Islands, but in the entire Macaronesian region. This type of insect has a body length of up to 11 mm and takes refuge in the fissures that it presents in the cave.
Image: Research Gate
Proteus anguinus
From southern Slovenia to Italy, Proteus anguinus, olm or proteus inhabit the groundwater from karst systems, formed by limestone and sore, from the Dynamic Alps. This species that feeds on debris and invertebrates, is characterized by hiding in cracks or the sedimentary bottom against disturbances and by its longevity, since it is capable of living 12 years.
Currently, there is evidence of a decline in their populations in Goriza (Italy) and Postojna (Slovenia). In fact, the following threats have led to its conservation status being considered vulnerable: changes in land uses of forests and grasslands under which groundwater systems are located, tourism, contamination and overexploitation of aquifers and their illegal commerce.
Waterfall climbing fish
The waterfall climbing fish (Cryptotora thamicola) is a endemic animal of Thailand known for its peculiar way of moving around. As its name indicates, the individuals of this species, who are also blind, despite their small size (3-8 cm), use their fins to jump or climb great distances on the rocks of the caves they inhabit, as if they were lizards. .[2]
Image: iNaturalist
The fairy of the woods
In January 2022, a species of bedbug known as the forest fairy (Valenciolenda fadaforesta)[3]. This insect lacks eyes, it is pale and its wings are surrounded on its edges with bright blue hairs that make it look like a fairy, hence its name. They feed on the sap coming from the roots of plants present in their habitat. They also stand out for their ability to move in jumps and to glide with their wings. V. fadaforesta has become the first caveman hemiptera registered in Spanish territory.
If you want to read more articles similar to Animals that live in caves, we recommend that you enter our category of Animal Curiosities.
References- Megan Gannon. (2012). Live Science. World's First Eyeless Huntsman Spider Discovered. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/22232-eyeless-spider-adapted-darkness.html
- Drafting. (2015). The universe. Cave-climbing fish could test the evolution of fish. Available at: https://www.eluniverso.com/vida-estilo/2015/05/10/nota/4853661/pez-escalador-cuevas-podria-probar-evolucion-peces/
- A. G. V./LA REASON. (2022). The reason. They find in Valencia a species of cave bug unknown until today. Available at: https://www.larazon.es/comunidad-valenciana/20210118/x6wxis2d6vcuhaxdxanynp67gi.html
- Leal-Zanchet A, Souza S, Ferreira R (2014) A new genus and species for the first recorded cave-dwelling Cavernicola (Platyhelminthes) from South America. ZooKeys 442: 1-15. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.442.8199
- This is the Texas blind salamander. Brut Media. Available at: https://www.brut.media/mx/entertainment/esta-es-la-salamandra-ciega-de-texas-50a5748c-904e-4cdb-be07-84dc20b1a775
- Texas Blind Salamander (Eurycea rathbuni). Naturalist. Available at: https://www.naturalista.mx/taxa/27130-Eurycea-rathbuni
- Phantom Cave Snail (Pyrgulopsis texana). Natureserve Explorer. Available at: https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.107256/Pyrgulopsis_texana
- Stoev, P., Komerički, A., Akkari, N., Liu, S., Zhou, X., Weigand, AM, Hostens, J., Hunter, CI, Edmunds, SC, Porco, D., Zapparoli, M ., Georgiev, T., Mietchen, D., Roberts, D., Faulwetter, S., Smith, V., & Penev, L. (2013). Eupolybothrus cavernicolus Komerički & Stoev sp. n. (Chilopoda: Lithobiomorpha: Lithobiidae): the first eukaryotic species description combining transcriptomic, DNA barcoding and micro-CT imaging data. Biodiversity data journal, (1), e1013. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.1.e1013.
- Cooper, John & Riser, Martha. (2010). Observations on the biology of the endangered stygobiotic shrimp Palaemonias alabamae, with notes on P. ganteri (Decapoda: Atyidae). Subterranean Biology. 8. 10.3897 / subtbiol.8.1226.
- Molero-Baltanás, Rafael & Gaju-Ricart, Miquel & López, Néstor & Oromí, Pedro & Bach, Carmen. (2014). The family Nicoletiidae in the Canary Islands, with description of new taxa (Insecta: Zygentoma). European Journal of Entomology. 111 (2). 1-8. 10.14411 / shaft.2014.032.
