Cave home to one of world's rarest fish By _Dennis Sherer_ (mailto:dennis.she...@timesdaily.com) Staff Writer
Published: Friday, March 6, 2009 at 3:30 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 11:10 p.m. There are lots of caves around the world, but only one where the Alabama cavefish lives. Key Cave, which overlooks Pickwick Lake, is the only place on Earth where the small, colorless fish has been found. Scientists from around the Southeast descended into the limestone cave west of Florence on Thursday, searching for Alabama cavefish and other aquatic a nimals. While high water levels in the cave caused by last week's rain made it difficult for scientists to dive in the cave's pools, they were able to locate two Alabama cave fish and several cave crayfish. "The water in the cave is up about three feet. The cave passages are narrow at the top, and when the water is this high, there's not much room left to snorkel," said Bernie Kahajda, collections manager for the Department of Biological Sciences, Biodiversity and Systematics, at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He spent more than an hour diving in the chilly water of the cave's pools. The recent rain also clouded the water in the cave, making it more difficult to spot the cavefish. The fish Kuhajda spotted escaped into the murky depths before he could capture them. Just seeing the two Alabama cavefish was cause for optimism among the scientists. The Alabama cavefish, which is listed as a critically endangered species by the U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service, is one of the rarest fish in the world. While unsure how many Alabama cavefish live in Key Cave, some scientists estimate there are fewer than 100. Kadhajda said no more than 10 have ever been found during a single visit to the cave. "We're not sure if the population is 50, 100 or 1,000," Kadhajda said. "We just don't know." Rob Hurt, a biologist for Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Decatur, which oversees Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge, said about 12,000 feet of the tunnels in Key Cave have been explored, but many passages have not because they are filled with water. He said geologists are unsure how far the tunnels stretch. While additional Alabama cavefish could live in parts of the cave that are inaccessible to humans or in the aquifer beneath the maze of caverns, Kahajda suspects most live near the entrance. He said the fish, which have no external eyes and rely on chemical sensors along their bodies to locate food and other cavefish, feed on tiny aquatic animals that live in the cave's pools. The small crustaceans that provide food for the fish and crayfish feed on bacteria that grows on feces of bats that live in the cave. "The bats are a main input of energy for the cave. One of our main concerns is that if anything ever happened to the colony of gray bats, it could disrupt the food chain of the cave," Kahajda said. A chain-link fence around the mouth of the cave helps protects the bats and fish. The cave is not open to the public. Additional risks are urban sprawl and chemical spills around the many sinkholes in the area that drain into the cave. Tennessee Valley Authority biologist Damien Simbeck said if some chemicals made their way into the cave's pools, it could affect the cavefish's ability to feed and reproduce. "The chemicals could throw off their system and they would not be able to find food or each other," he said. In addition, if the woodlands and fields in the area around the cave were bulldozed and paved, it could reduce the amount of water draining into the caverns and harm the fish, Kahajda said. Kahajda said there is no reason to ban development around the cave, but it needs to be monitored. He said building a subdivision equipped with a storm sewer system near the cave could harm the cave's pools. But building a subdivision where rain water was allowed to flow and drain naturally would not be a major threat. "You can still have development. It just needs to be smart development." The 1,060-acre Key Cave Wildlife Refuge, which was established in 1997, helps protect the cave from pollution and development. Several of the cave's known passages lie beneath the refuge. _http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090306/ARTICLES/903065026/1011/NEWS?Title =Cave-home-to-one-of-world-s-rarest-fish_ (http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090306/ARTICLES/903065026/1011/NEWS?Title=Cave-home-to-one-of-world-s-rarest- fish) **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1219957551x1201325337/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID %3D62%26bcd%3DfebemailfooterNO62)
