Amblyopsis is a genus of small (up to 11 cm or 4.3 in long) fish in the family Amblyopsidae that are endemic to the central and eastern United States.[1] Like other cavefish, they lack pigmentation and are blind.[2] The most recently described species was in 2014.[3] Uniquely among fish, Amblyopsis brood their eggs in the gill chambers (somewhat like mouthbrooders).[4] It was formerly incorrectly speculated that the same brooding behavior existed in other genera in the family and in the pirate perch (Aphredoderus sayanus).[4][5] During the Pleistocene period, the modern Ohio river was a barrier of dispersal and created a great genetic variation, leading to two phylogenetically distinct lineages from the species Amblyopsis.[6]
^ abArmbruster, J.W.; M.L. Niemiller & P.B. Hart (2016). "Morphological Evolution of the Cave-, Spring-, and Swampfishes of the Amblyopsidae (Percopsiformes)". Copeia. 104 (3): 763–777. doi:10.1643/ci-15-339. S2CID53608365.
^Fletcher, D.E.; Dakin, E.E.; Porter, B.A.; Avise, J.C. (2004). "Spawning behavior and genetic parentage in the pirate perch (Aphredoderus sayanus), a fish with an enigmatic reproductive morphology". Copeia. 2004 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1643/ce-03-160r. S2CID37827490.
