page_title: Amblyopsidae
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Amblyopsidae / Description
caption_attribution_description: Forbesichthys agassizii
context_page_description: The Amblyopsidae are a fish family commonly referred to as cavefish, blindfish, or swampfish. They are small freshwater fish found in the dark environments of caves, springs and swamps in the eastern half of the United States. Like other troglobites, most amblyopsids exhibit adaptations to these dark environments, including the lack of functional eyes and the absence of pigmentation. More than 200 species of cavefishes are known, but only six of these are in the family Amblyopsidae. One of these, Forbesichthys agassizii, spends time both underground and aboveground. A seventh species in this family, Chologaster cornuta, is not a cave-dweller but lives in aboveground swamps.
context_section_description: Amblyopsids are generally small, the northern cavefish (largest species in family) reaching up to 11 cm (4.3 in) in length.
  The amblyopsids are probably ancient in origin. Adaptations common to many cavefish include reduced susceptibility to light, pigment loss, or reduction in skin scales, as well as development of chemoreceptors in the sensory organs of the body surface and the lateral line. Three species exhibit efficient metabolism during swimming, as compared with a group of non-cave fish, and many cavefish species exhibit slender bodies adapted to swimming in fast-flowing waters.
  The cave-dwellers typically lack pigment and are somewhat translucent. They have a naked, moderately depressed head and an elongated body, covered with small cycloid irregular flakes, with tiny or absent pelvic fins. The anal opening is so far forward that it is in the throat region.
  The premaxilla, a bone of the upper jaw, is segmented, and the vomer has no teeth. They have no ventral fins. The lateral line is incomplete, but well developed in some species. Its spine has between 27 and 35 vertebrae.
  Externally, they resemble killifishes in many respects, although their internal anatomy more closely resembles the trout-perches, with which they are currently classified.
caption: The spring cavefish (Forbesichthys agassizii) spends some time aboveground and its adaptions to an underground habitat are not as extreme as most species in the family
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