Caecocypris basimi Banister & Bunni, 1980
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
Caecocypris basimi, the Haditha cavefish, is a species of cyprinid fish endemic to Iraq, only occurring in aquifers near Haditha. It is found in an underground sinkhole directly under a shrine the only way to access which is a well 5m below the shrine. This cavefish is the only member of its genus. The species is classed as Critically endangered, possibly extinct, by the IUCN, as there have been no records since 1983 despite a comprehensive survey in 2012. The primary threat is water extraction, which has lowered the groundwater level. It is placed as one of the top 10 lost freshwater fishes to be found.
The cavefish Garra widdowsoni is found in the same place and it has also drastically declined, but it is not as rare as Caecocypris basimi. The only other known cavefish in Iraq is Eidinemacheilus proudlovei.
The holotype of Caecocypris basimi, collected by Dr. Basim M Al Azzawi in 1977, is deposited at the British Museum of Natural History and other specimens are at the Australian Museum.
Wikipedia contributors, Caecocypris; 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
- Caecocypris basimi Banister & Bunni, 1980
- Name authority
- Banister & Bunni, 1980
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Caecocypris
- 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
- orderCypriniformes
- familyCyprinidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusCaecocypris Banister & Bunni, 1980
- speciesCaecocypris basimi Banister & Bunni, 1980
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.
- Banister, K. E., & Bunni, M. K. (1980). A new blind cyprinid fish from Iraq. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology, 38 (3): 151–158. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.12611 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:P8H5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.