JUNE 18, 2016
by Chuck Bednar
For the first time, a rare type
of eyeless catfish native to Mexico has been spotted in the US, as a team of
researchers from the University
of Texas at Austin identified the creature swimming in a limestone
cave at the Amistad National Recreation Area near the city of Del Rio.
Known as the Mexican blindcat (Prietella phreatophila), these
endangered fish are typically less than three inches long and live in areas
supported by the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer underlying the Rio Grande basin in
Texas and Coahuila, UT-Austin ichthyology curator Dean Hendrickson and his
colleagues explained Friday in a statement.
In May, Hendrickson’s team found
two of the catfish in the limestone cave, and their discovery supports the
belief that the Texas and Mexico portions of the aquifer are connected by
water-filled caves located under the Rio Grande. While there have been rumored
sighting of the species in Texas for decades, this is the first time that such
observations can be confirmed.
The two catfish, which have since
been relocated to the San Antonio Zoo, “look just like the ones from Mexico,”
the ichthyologist said. It is the third species of blind catfish to be
identified in the US, joining the toothless blindcat (Trogloglanis pattersoni) and the widemouth blindcat (Satan eurystomus). All three species
have only been spotted in Texas.
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