Beneath Alabama’s Toxic Legacy, Scientists Unearth a Mysterious Eye-less ‘Demon Cavefish’ That Defies Evolutionary Logic
Wikimedia CommonsRedstone Arsenal has been the subject of multiple clean-up efforts since its time as a chemical weapons facility.
The Outlook For The Endangered Demogorgonichthys arcanus
The larger concern for the Demon Cavefish is that the cave’s groundwater is connected to the surface water above, which exposes the fish to runoff, sediment, and contaminants from the nearby city of Huntsville.
With this in mind, the researchers noted that the Demon Cavefish falls into the category of “critically endangered” species.
“Being known from a single cave and its aquifer makes it inherently vulnerable,” Niemiller said in a statement. “What protects [the fish] is protecting the water, including safeguarding groundwater quality and the recharge basin, not just the cave passage, along with continued monitoring that reliably tells this species apart from its look-alike neighbor.”
While the team is now focusing on determining the population size of the Demon Cavefish and how to protect this species, the discovery alone was an exciting achievement for the researchers. They never thought, after so many years studying Bobcat Cave, that they’d find something new within its confines.
As Niemiller said, “The demon cavefish is a reminder that our inventories are far from finished, even in well-explored places.”
After reading about the Demon Cavefish species found in Alabama, learn about the American Army’s Cold War facility for chemical weapons at Maryland’s Edgewood Arsenal. Then, read about how the U.S. government’s top-secret Montauk Project helped inspire Stranger Things.
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