Description

Description. Robust, blind (eye not developed, Fig. 7), unpigmented cavefish typically reaching between 60 - 80 mm in adult standard length. Head large (about 1 / 4 body length) flat dorsally but broad; head widest part of body. Body widest at operculum, narrows to caudal fin. Body rectangular, dorsal and vertical profile of body nearly symmetrical; deepest point at dorsal-fin origin. Fleshy protuberance present anterior to dorsal-fin origin; similar protuberance at anal-fin origin. Body narrows posterior to dorsal- and anal-fin origins, narrowest point at midpoint of caudal peduncle. Body plump, wrinkly in appearance (as in Bibendum) prominent deep myomeres present. Deep groove on ventral side of body from operculum and anus to pelvic fin. Scales inconspicuous and cycloid. Superficial mechanosensory neuromasts on papillae (Eigenmann 1909, Niemiller and Poulson 2010) present in rows of 5 - 30 on head. Papillae concentrated at mouth; fewer posteriorly on head. Most rows of papillae vertical, far fewer horizontal. Horizontal rows typically connect two to four other vertical rows. Most mechanosensory papillae on dorsal side of head concentrated and aligned posterior to, or between, nares. No mechanosensory papillae in central area of dorsal region of head. Papillae present dorsal to braincase in two horizontal rows. No lateral line on body. Mechanosensory papillae on body much smaller than those on head and aligned in vertical rows; some scattered papillae near dorsal-fin base. Inconspicuous papillae present on caudal fin in horizontal rows of two or three in both dorsal and ventral half of fin, vertical row present at base. Anterior nares small, tube shaped; posterior nares slightly larger with small anterior flap, but otherwise circular. Lips somewhat thin and fleshy. Lower jaw slightly longer than upper jaw. Vertical through dorsal-fin origin between more anterior pelvic-fin origin and more posterior anal-fin origin. Anal-fin and dorsal-fin insertions near same vertical plane. All fins relatively short and rounded. Anus located anteriorly on body, behind isthmus of united gill membranes (i. e., jugular). Caudal skeleton upturned and asymmetrical (externally appearing homocercal), with last half centrum (preural 1 + ural 1) including hypural (3 - X; following Rosen 1962) and entirely associated with dorsal half of caudal fin. Five or six principal caudal-fin rays supported by each hypural plate (ventral hypural 1 + 2; again following Rosen 1962). Branchiostegals six in number, robust and prominent. Papilliform flap at dorsal origin of operculum. Six or seven gill rakers on ceratobranchial of first gill arch. Rakers short, stubby and denticulated. Central and upper tooth plates also heavily denticulated. Buccal teeth villiform, in three to five rows. Individual teeth unicuspid, slender and long; teeth deeply embedded in mouth so only top 1 / 3 visible. Teeth recumbent, particularly those on upper jaw. Palatine and vomerine teeth also present. Body uniformly depigmented, including inside mouth. Body pinkish-white, reddish near gills, fins transparent. In alcohol, body color uniformly yellowish / beige, fins opaque yellow.

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Order: Percopsiformes

Family: Amblyopsidae

Genus: Amblyopsis

Species: Amblyopsis hoosieri Niemiller, Prejean & Chakrabarty, 2014