Blind swamp eel
| Blind swamp eel | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Synbranchiformesy |
| Family: | Synbranchidae |
| Genus: | Ophisternon |
| Species: | O. infernale |
| Binomial name | |
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Ophisternon infernale (C. L. Hubbs, 1938) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The blind swamp eel (Ophisternon infernale) is a species of fish in the family Synbranchidae. It is endemic to Mexico where it lives in cave systems and is known in Spanish as the anguila ciega. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated this cavefish as "endangered".
The blind swamp eel was first described by the American ichthyologist Carl Leavitt Hubbs in 1938, the holotype having been collected two years earlier by A.S.Pearse. Hubbs named the fish Pluto infernalis because he liked to associate creatures living underground with the devil, who supposedly dwelt underground, and gave diabolical names to cave fishes; infernale comes from the Latin for Hell. The fish was later transferred to the genus Ophisternon, the swamp eels. The genus name is derived from the Greek, "ophis", meaning a serpent, and "sternon", meaning chest. Synonyms for this species include Furmastix infernalis and Synbranchus infernalis.
The blind swamp eel is an elongated, wormlike fish with no pigment, no scales and no visible eyes. It seems likely that it is derived from the marbled swamp eel (Synbranchus marmoratus) and became adapted for life underground. It grows to a standard length of 32.5 cm (13 in) and the bulbous head bears numerous sensory pores.
The blind swamp eel is endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico where it inhabits freshwater in sinkholes and limestone caves. It lives in shallow water in the muddy substrate or under stones. It has only been found in 7% of the caves investigated, and where it is found, it coexists with the Mexican blind brotula (Typhliasina pearsei), and often with the catfish Rhamdia guatemalensis.
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