Ozark Cavefish
![[photo of Ozark cavefish]](images/cave1.gif)
Amblyopsis
rosae
The Ozark cavefish is a small, colorless, blind fish that lives its entire life in springs, cave streams, and underground waters. It is well adapted to the cave environment. Water pollution, habitat destruction, human disturbance, and collection may put the Ozark cavefish in jeopardy. The Ozark cavefish is listed ENDANGERED by the Missouri Department of Conservation and THREATENED by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Identification
The Ozark cavefish is a small colorless fish about 2 1/4 inches long. It has a flattened head with a slightly protruding lower jaw, and its tail fin is rounded. The cavefish lives most or all of its life in total darkness. It lacks eyes. The cavefish uses sense organs that are located on the sides of its head, body, and tail to find food.
Two other cavefish species are found in Missouri. The spring cavefish is known from only one site near Cape Girardeau. The southern cavefish lives in the central and southeastern Ozark region. It is hard to distinguish the Ozark cavefish from the southern cavefish, however their ranges do not overlap.
For a technical description of this animal, refer to:
Pflieger, W.L. 1991. The Fishes of Missouri. Missouri Department of Conservation. Jefferson City, Missouri. 343 pp.
Life History
Very little is known about the life cycle of the Ozark cavefish. Spring floods probably trigger spawning, which occurs from February to April when waters are high.
Females probably produce about 20 eggs, which are collected in the female's mouth and then shifted to their gill cavities. Eggs remain in the gill cavities until they hatch four to five months later. Ozark cavefish have a low reproductive rate. It is estimated that only 20% of the mature females spawn each year.
Ozark cavefish feed on plankton, isopods, amphipods, crayfish, salamander larvae, and bat guano. Caves have a limited supply of food and nutrients, so the cavefish depends on resources brought in from the outside. Leaf litter, sticks, and bat guano are important sources of nutrients in a cave's ecosystem. Ozark cavefish are often found near bat roosting areas. Cavefish can live 10 years or more.
Habitat and Distribution
![[missouri map of ozark cavefish]](images/momap.gif)
Ozark cavefish are found in Newton, Jasper, Lawrence, Greene, Stone and
Barry counties in southwest Missouri.
Ozark cavefish are found in cave streams and springs with a gravel bottom, or occasionally in pools over silt and sand bottoms. The cavefish is restricted to areas of limestone and dolomite bedrock containing caves, sinkholes, and springs.
The cave streams where Ozark cavefish live may receive water from the surface of the land several miles away. The land area that replenishes the cave's system with water through draining, percolation, and seepage is known as the "recharge area".
Ozark cavefish are found in a region called the Springfield Plateau of the Ozark Highlands in southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas, and northeast Oklahoma. Thirteen Ozark cavefish sites are known to exist in Missouri. Presently, populations are known from Newton, Jasper, Lawrence, Greene, Stone, and Barry counties. Only two cave entrances are protected on public land and one by Fantastic Caverns. Other cavefish site owners have been very cooperative to protect cave entrances.
Cause of Historic Decline
Changes or degradation in cavefish habitat are potentially harmful to this rare fish. Groundwater pollution and human disturbance may affect this species. The continued survival of the Ozark cavefish depends on proper cave management and good water quality.
Current Threats to Ozark Cavefish
- Water pollution - Urban and agricultural pesticides that enter streams and sinkholes may travel miles underground and pollute cavefish habitat. Leaky sewage lagoons, septic tanks, chemical spills, drainage fields, street runoff, and toxic metals from old lead and zinc mines may also find their way to caves and threaten cave wildlife. Soil erosion and runoff from livestock and poultry farms may enter a recharge area and affect the water quality within a cave.
- Human disturbance - Collection of Ozark cavefish by professional and amateur collectors can reduce or eliminate local populations of cavefish. Repeated human disturbance of gray bats and other bats within a cave may result in high bat mortality and eventual abandonment of the cave. With the bats gone, the cavefish may lose an important source of food and nutrients.
- Alterations or destruction of cave habitats - Caves and nearby springs are often part of the same system. Water enters the cave system by ground percolation and sinkholes. Destruction of suitable cave habitats resulting from flooding by reservoirs, excessive water removal, or intentionally sealing the entrance potentially results in populations of cavefish being lost or severely reduced. Changes in water level can dramatically alter a cave's habitat. The flow of nutrients and food into the cave stops when caves are sealed, or otherwise made inaccessible to bats and other animals. A sinkhole is a collapsed portion of a cave and a direct route for altering the cave environment. Filling sinkholes or using them as waste dumps affects water quality and water levels in cavefish habitat.
Protection and Management: Steps Toward Recovery
Landowners can play an important role in protecting water quality for caves. Possibly the best action to protect the Ozark cavefish is to protect its habitat. At least one cave has been acquired by the Department of Conservation to protect a population of cavefish. The Department has helped to protect other caves by working with landowners to lessen the chance of chemical or human disturbance.
- Protect a cave's recharge area Know the surface area of your recharge area and how pesticides will enter the groundwater system. Look for active and abandoned wells, sinkholes, caves and springs. Do not dispose of chemicals, toxic waste, or garbage in sinkholes or streams. Install septic tanks properly and make sure they work well. Use pesticides according to the label. Dispose of pesticide containers properly. Sinkholes should not be used for dumping. Plant trees and vegetation around riparian areas, cave openings, and sinkholes. Vegetation reduces runoff and protects the cave from siltation and agricultural chemicals. Practice no-till or other conservation tillage systems, which will reduce run-off and increase infiltration to the soil.
- Minimize or eliminate disturbance to cave wildlife Discourage any collecting of cavefish. Avoid entering caves known to have hibernating or roosting bats. Recreational cavers may unknowingly affect the cavefish's breeding activities or the availability of food in the cave system.
- Do not alter or modify the cave entrance Maintain or restore at least 20 acres of forest area around the entrance to a cave to encourage bats to use the cave. Healthy streamside (riparian) corridors near caves also encourage bat use. Do not seal or alter a cave's entrance. Cavefish depend on the outside environment for food and nutrients and when the connection is broken, there is less food available. In addition, caves that are inaccessible to bats greatly reduce the amount of food available to resident cavefish.
Missouri and federal law prohibits the exportation, transportation, or sale of plants on the State or Federal lists.
For more information on Ozark cavefish, or to report sightings of this species, contact:
Endangered Species CoordinatorMissouri Department of Conservation
P.O. Box 180
Jefferson City, MO 65102
573/ 751-4115
For more information on management of recharge areas and protecting groundwater quality contact:
Fisheries District SupervisorSpringfield Conservation Service Center
2630 North Mayfair
Springfield, MO 65803-5018
(417) 895-6880
