Protecting the Ozark ecosystems that sustain life below the surface
By Loring Bullard, member of OLT Board of Directors
Two OLT sites protect habitat for rare and endangered aquatic species: Moore Cave and Sarcoxie Cave.
In 1888, Ruth Hoppin, a school teacher from Michigan, crawled into Sarcoxie Cave. There, she found tiny, ghostly white fish. She netted a few, preserved them, and sent them to a zoologist at Harvard. He pronounced them a new species—the Ozark cave fish.
Amblyopsis rosae (Ozark cavefish), found in Sarcoxie Cave.
In 1991, cavers in Perry County, on Missouri’s eastern edge, found small fish resembling the banded sculpins found in spring branches, but with smaller eyes.
Genetic testing confirmed that this was a separate species, the grotto sculpin, known only from five caves in Perry County. Both species are threatened by pollution in the recharge areas of their caves, such as pesticide use, land clearing, sinkhole dumping and habitat disturbance.
Cottus specus (Grotto Sculpin), found only in Perry County, MO.
OLT will work with many partners to make sure these subterranean fish get a fighting chance at survival.
–Loring Bullard is a member of the OLT Board of Directors and author of many books, including “The Springs of Missouri.”