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Ophisternon candidum
(Mees, 1962) |
Blind cave eel
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Common Name: Blind cave eel
(E).
Etymology: candidum
(L) whitish, for the pale appearance of the skin.
Major Synonyms: Anommatophasma
candidum (original description).
History: First observed by Alf Snell who mentioned the
existence of a ‘blind eel’ sometime in 1959, and in that year A.N. Douglas
and G. F. Mees collected the fist specimen. |
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Morphological Characteristics:
Troglomorphic Characters:
Eye Condition:
No externally visible eyes.
Pigmentation:
Whitish coloration in the skin (Romero
& Vanselow 2000b).
Scales:
Scaleless.
Swim (gas)
bladder: |
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Distribution:
Australia: Western and northeastern coastal plain of the Cape Range
peninsula. Found in 11 locations (two now destroyed) in numbers ranging
from one to three individuals (for a distributional map see
Humphreys 1999) (ca. 22o07' S,
113o57' E). |
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| Habitat and
Ecology: In wells, sinkholes, and caves, and possibly in groundwater.
This species feeds on invertebrates, both hypogean and epigean, that
accidentally fall into their habitat (Humphreys
& Feinberg 1995). |
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Food and Feeding: |
| Reproduction and Development: |
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Other Behaviors: |
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Conservation
Status: Data deficient.
Major Threats: |
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Conservation Plans: |
| Phylogenetic Relationships:
It may have derived from Synbranchus bengalensis,
the only other synbranchid known to occur in Western Australia. |
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