The Scyphophori, Haplomi, and Xenomi 203 



some other species of Chologaster. Of this species Mr. Garman 

 and Mr. Eigenmann have given detailed accounts from some- 

 what different points of view. 



Concerning the habits of the blindfish (Troglichthys roses], 

 Mr. Garman quotes the following from notes of Miss Ruth 

 Hoppin, of Jasper County, Missouri: "For about two weeks 

 I have been watching a fish taken from a well. I gave him 

 considerable water, changed once a day, and kept him in an 

 uninhabitated place subject to as few changes of temperature 

 as possible. He seems perfectly healthy and as lively as when 

 first taken from the well. If not capable of long fasts, he must 

 live on small organisms my eye cannot discern. He is hardly 

 ever still, but moves about the sides of the vessel constantly, 

 down and up, as if needing the air. He never swims through 



FIG. 163. Blindfish of the Mammoth Cave, Amblyopsis spelceus (De Kay). 

 Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. 



the body of the water away from the sides unless disturbed. 

 Passing the finger over the sides of the vessel under water I 

 find it slippery. I am careful not to disturb this slimy coating 

 when the water is changed. . . . Numerous tests convince 

 me that it is through the sense of touch, and not through hear- 

 ing, that the fish is disturbed; I may scream or strike metal 

 bodies together over him as near as possible, yet he seems to 

 take no notice whatever. If I strike the vessel so that the 

 water is set in motion, he darts away from that side through 

 the mass of water, instead of around in his usual way. If I 

 stir the water or touch the fish, no matter how lightly, his 

 actions are the same." 



The more famous blindfish of the Mammoth Cave, Ambly- 

 opsis spel&us, reaches a length of five inches. It possesses 

 ventral fins. From this fact we may infer its descent from 



