Amblyopsis spelaea DeKay, 1842
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The northern cavefish or northern blindfish (Amblyopsis spelaea) is found in caves through Kentucky and southern Indiana. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as near threatened. 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. Some estimates suggest that specimens may live up to 30-40 years in environments with stable food supplies. 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.
Wikipedia contributors, Northern cavefish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T18:59:22.337708+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Amblyopsis spelaea DeKay, 1842
- Name authority
- DeKay, 1842
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Percopsiformes
- Family
- Amblyopsidae
- Genus
- Amblyopsis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPercopsiformes
- familyAmblyopsidae Bonaparte, 1845
- genusAmblyopsis DeKay, 1842
- speciesAmblyopsis spelaea DeKay, 1842
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Amblyopsis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Amblyopsis hoosieri Niemiller, Prejean & Chakrabarty, 2014 | AmblyopsidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Amblyopsis spelaeus DeKay, 1842 DeKay, 1842 | synonym |
| Amblyopsis spelea DeKay, 1842 DeKay, 1842 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- DeKay, J. E. (1842). Zoology of New-York, or the New-York fauna; comprising detailed descriptions of all the animals hitherto observed within the state of New-York, with brief notices of those occasionally found near its borders, and accompanied by appropriate illustrations. Part IV. Fishes. W. & A. White & J. Visscher, Albany. (Part Of: Natural History of New York), i–xv + 1–415, Pls. 1–79. [Plates in separate volume; fishes, Pls. 1–79 [most in color].]. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.2079 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:CMRC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.