Amblyopsis Explained

Amblyopsis is a genus of small (up to 11abbr=onNaNabbr=on long) fish in the family Amblyopsidae that are endemic to the central and eastern United States. Like other cavefish, they lack pigmentation and are blind.^[1] The most recently described species was in 2014.^[2] Uniquely among fish, Amblyopsis brood their eggs in the gill chambers (somewhat like mouthbrooders).^[3] It was formerly incorrectly speculated that the same brooding behavior existed in other genera in the family and in the pirate perch (Aphredoderus sayanus).^{[3] [4]} During the Pleistocene period, the modern Ohio river was a barrier of dispersal and created a great genetic variation, leading to two phylogenetically distinct lineages from the species Amblyopsis.^[5]

Species

There are currently 3 species of this genus:

• Amblyopsis hoosieri Niemiller, Prejean & Chakrabarty, 2014 (Hoosier cavefish)^[2]
• Amblyopsis rosae C. H. Eigenmann, 1898 (Ozark cavefish)
• Amblyopsis spelaea DeKay, 1842 (northern cavefish)

References

Bibliography

Book: Charles . Darwin. 1979. The Origin of Species. John Murray . 0-517-30978-5 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Darwin. Charles. The Origin of Species. 1979. Avenel Books. New York. 0-517-30978-5. 179. 1st. 1.
2. Chakrabarty . P. . Prejean . J.A. . Niemiller . M.L. . 2014 . The Hoosier cavefish, a new and endangered species (Amblyopsidae, Amblyopsis) from the caves of southern Indiana . ZooKeys . 412. 41–57 . 10.3897/zookeys.412.7245. 4042695 . 24899861. free .
3. Armbruster, J.W. . M.L. Niemiller . P.B. Hart . amp . Morphological Evolution of the Cave-, Spring-, and Swampfishes of the Amblyopsidae (Percopsiformes) . Copeia . 2016 . 104 . 3 . 763–777 . 10.1643/ci-15-339. 53608365 .
4. Fletcher . D.E. . Dakin . E.E. . Porter . B.A. . Avise . J.C. . 2004 . Spawning behavior and genetic parentage in the pirate perch (Aphredoderus sayanus), a fish with an enigmatic reproductive morphology . Copeia . 2004 . 1 . 1–10 . 10.1643/ce-03-160r. 37827490 .
5. Niemiller . M.L. . McCandless . J.R. . Reynolds . R.G. . Effects of Climatic and Geological Processes During the Pleistocene on the Evolutionary History of the Northern Cavefish,Amblyopsis Spelaea(Teleostei: Amblyopsidae) . 2013 . Evolution . 67 . 4. 1011–1025 . 10.1111/evo.12017. 23550752 . 205122612 . free .