Ichthyologists have discovered a new species of fish in the caves of southern Indiana that’s long, pinkish, and has no eyes.
The Amblyopsis hoosieri or the Hoosier Cavefish, was discovered by researchers from the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and the University of Kentucky, who say that this is the first new cavefish species in the U.S. in 40 years.
It was originally thought to be the same species as a cavefish living south of the Ohio River in Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, but the two fish actually have different DNA.
These two species are separated by the Ohio River, which also separates the states of Indiana and Kentucky. The Hoosier Cavefish was found in the caves developed in carbonate rock of the Crawford-Mammoth Cave Uplands and Mitchell Plain in the South-Central karst region of Indiana and found primarily in larger cave streams at or near the water table where it has been observed in pools of water.
