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Oaxaca cave sleeper

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Oaxaca cave sleeper
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gobiiformes
Family: Eleotridae
Genus: Caecieleotris
Walsh & Chakrabarty, 2016
Species:
C. morrisi
Binomial name
Caecieleotris morrisi

Caecieleotris morrisi, also known as the Oaxaca cave sleeper is a species of troglobitic fish in the family Eleotridae found in a single cave system beneath Presa Miguel Alemán reservoir, northern State of Oaxaca in Mexico. This species is the only member of its genus.[2]

It is only known from museum specimens that were collected in the 1990s.[3] Since then the cave system has been flooded because of a dam. Recent surveys have not been able to relocate the species and it might be extinct.[3]

The generic name is a compound of the Latin caecus meaning blind suffixed with Eleotris, the type genus of the Eleotridae and specific name honours the cave diver, speleologist and conservationist Thomas L. Morris who discovered this species and collected the type specimen.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Caecieleotris morrisi". FishBase. February 2018 version.
  2. ^ Walsh, S.J.; Chakrabarty, P. (2016). "A New Genus and Species of Blind Sleeper (Teleostei: Eleotridae) from Oaxaca, Mexico: First Obligate Cave Gobiiform in the Western Hemisphere" (PDF). Copeia. 104 (2): 506–517. doi:10.1643/ci-15-275. S2CID 89252631.
  3. ^ a b Montanari, M. (30 June 2016). "This Rare Eyeless Cavefish Was Discovered Deep Underground In Mexico". Forbes. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  4. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (26 July 2017). "Order GOBIIFORMES: Families RHYACICHTHYIDAE, ODONTOBUTIDAE, MILYERINGIDAE, ELEOTRIDAE, BUTIDAE and THALASSELEOTRIDIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 21 July 2018.