Lakes and Life in The Cave
Cosmic Cavern has two cave lakes reported to be bottomless, since cave divers have never found the bottoms. They are among the largest underground lakes in the Ozarks. The south lake was artificially stocked with trout in the 1920s, and many of the remaining trout have become blind and have lost their pigmentation; however, there are openings to external water bodies, as trout from the cave are occasionally found in nearby surface bodies of water.
Rainfall is known to dramatically change the water level in the cave, which can fill and empty rapidly.
Other life in the cave includes the Ozark Blind Cave Salamander. This salamander is endemic to the Ozarks, where it is found in several caves. It is related to the Olm (Proteus anguinus). Though there are also crawdads in the cave, these are not believed to be native.
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