Caecieleotris morrisi Walsh & Chakrabarty, 2016
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
Caecieleotris morrisi, also known as the Oaxaca cave sleeper, is a species of troglobitic fish in the family Eleotridae found in a single cave system beneath Presa Miguel Alemán reservoir, northern State of Oaxaca in Mexico. This species is the only member of its genus.
It is only known from museum specimens that were collected in the 1990s. Since then the cave system has been flooded because of a dam. Recent surveys have not been able to relocate the species and it might be extinct.
The generic name is a compound of the Latin caecus meaning blind suffixed with Eleotris, the type genus of the Eleotridae and specific name honours the cave diver, speleologist and conservationist Thomas L. Morris who discovered this species and collected the type specimen.
Wikipedia contributors, Oaxaca cave sleeper; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:13:21.238423+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Caecieleotris morrisi Walsh & Chakrabarty, 2016
- Name authority
- Walsh & Chakrabarty, 2016
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Gobiiformes
- Family
- Eleotridae
- Genus
- Caecieleotris
- 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
- orderGobiiformes
- familyEleotridae Bonaparte, 1835
- genusCaecieleotris Walsh & Chakrabarty, 2016
- speciesCaecieleotris morrisi Walsh & Chakrabarty, 2016
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
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.
- Walsh, S. J., & Chakrabarty, P. (2016). A New Genus and Species of Blind Sleeper (Teleostei: Eleotridae) from Oaxaca, Mexico: First Obligate Cave Gobiiform in the Western Hemisphere. Copeia, 104. https://doi.org/10.1643/ci-15-275 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:P7RS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.