The blind cave eel (Ophisternon candidum) is a species of fish in the Synbranchidae family. It is endemic to subterranean waters in the Cape Range, Australia. Like other cave adapted animals such as Milyeringa (the only other vertebrates restricted to subterranean waters in Australia), the blind cave eel is entirely blind and lacks pigmentation. It is listed as vulnerable under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Reaching a length of 40 cm (16 in), it is the longest known cavefish.
Famous quotes containing the words blind and/or cave:
“For my own part, I commonly attend more to nature than to man, but any affecting human event may blind our eyes to natural objects. I was so absorbed in him as to be surprised whenever I detected the routine of the natural world surviving still, or met persons going about their affairs indifferent.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I was thewed like an Auroch bull,
And tusked like the great Cave Bear;
And you, my sweet, from head to feet,
Were gowned in your glorious hair.”
—Langdon Smith (1858–1908)