#troglobite

Haunting the caves is hard work, especially when you're this small. Sometimes all I really want is a hug.

Hell Creek Cave Crayfish (Cambarus zophonastes)

Arkansas, USA

Narrow-necked blind cave beetle, Leptodirus hochenwartii (or hohenwarti), Leiodidae (round fungus beetles)

This species is a true cave-dweller and cannot survive long outside of the cave environment. Adaptations to cave-living include elongated legs and antennae, no body pigment, no wings, and blindness. Interestingly, it has evolved domed elytra under which it traps humid air to help it breathe in drier areas of the cave. Although little is known about their lifestyle, they have been observed opportunistically feeding on both plant and dead animal matter.

Found in caves only in the Dinaric Alps and considered threatened due to its specific habitat requirements.

Follow up on my Creature Design Elective post

This assignment has me paint for the first time in a long time again! And has me sculpt for the first timer EVER!

For the crystals i had this really fancy shader downloaded but then ended up with just a coloured glass look and LOOK AT THE FORBIDDEN GUMMY BEARS!

I had to restart this project twice bc my laptop kept breaking, hell yeah. It‘s still on thin ice. I can‘t play Hades anymore!!

Gemuary 2023 Day 23: Opal

Opals are formed when water passes through underground matter and absorbs its silica, and the water evaporates. 'Precious opal' contains 'play-of-color', while common opal (or 'potch') does not.

So this has been a long time coming. So glad to finally have it all running and the fish settled in there.

The tank is home to 12 individual cave fish, Astyanax jordani. Currently they are young fish at 3cm head to caudal peduncle. Simple set up but I think it's ideal as a realistically feasible reproduction of the natural habitat. The loose rocks also means I can move them about as a form of enrichment for the fish, given the importance of memorisation of their environment.

These fish are so wonderful and unique. There is much to be said about them.

Troglobites: Creatures of the Cave

Troglobites are generally small creatures which are adapted to live in caves. These adaptations are so extreme that these creatures are unable to survive on the surface, and thus spend their entire life in caves. For example, due to the dark nature of caves eyes are not used; many Troglobites, therefore, have underdeveloped eyes which may even be covered with skin. Darkness also removes the need for camouflage colouring animals on the surface may have, as such many Troglobites are albino. As seen in the photo, the Titanophyllum spiriarum is a species of millipede which is a Troglobite. This species was discovered in 2011 in Greece, has no eyes, and has a very palely pigmented body. Other Troglobites include the White Cave Velvet Worm, the Alabama Cave Shrimp, and the Beauty Rat Snake.

Due to Troglobites sedentary lifestyle they do not need much food to survive and thus gain most food from scavenging. Examples of food sources for Troglobites include plant debris, bacteria and animal faeces (such as bat guano – the excrement of cave-dwelling bats). So far nearly 8000 species of Troglobites have been discovered; however, biologists believe this number is not nearly at its maximum due to the number of caves yet to be explored or even discovered at all.

It should be noted that bats are not Troglobites but are Trogloxenes instead (animals that use caves but only for a short period e.g. overnight or to hibernate in over winter).Trogloxenes include birds, snakes and insects. There are also Troglophiles which spend part/ all of their life in caves; however, these species differ as they are not adapted to permanently living in caves so still maintain vision and pigmentation.

The first examples of Troglobites were discovered in Slovenia in the 1600s when heavy rain flooded caves and flushed out flesh-coloured creatures that were up to 10cm long with flat heads. At the time, this caused much hysteria as locals believed these were underdeveloped baby dragons.