94 BULLETIN OF THE 



inconspicuous," color "greenish olive (in spirits) " ; the color of another 

 is "greenish," no mention of the eye; another is " rose-colored," no men- 

 tion of the eye, nor statement as to whether this is tlie color in life or in 

 apirits ; a fourth is " brownish with darker spots, . . . eye small and indis- 

 tinct " ; another, " eyes invisible," no mention of color. Of the remaining 

 three, no mention is made of either the eyes or the color, but for the 

 name in one species ruhicundus is given as a synonym. Of the genus 

 Trypauchen two species are described, one of which is characterized as 

 "reddish (during life), brownish (in spirits)," the other as "uniform rose- 

 colored." No mention is here made of the condition of the eyes, and I 

 know them to be rudimentary only by the list of blind fishes given by 

 the same author (Packard, '86, p. 107). 



In the characterization of the genus Trypauchenichthys the eyes are 

 said to be " very small, scarcely visible," and the only species described 

 is "rose-colored (Bl.)." Nothing is given to indicate that these fishes 

 live particularly excluded from the light. The genus Amblyopus is said 

 to be "confined to the coasts, estuaries, and fresh waters of the East 

 Indies, extending northward to China and Japan ; one species from the 

 west coast of South America." The genus Trypauchen is from the " East 

 Indian Seas " and the " fresh waters of Borneo," and Trypauchenich- 

 thys is from " rivers of Borneo." 



We are not informed whether the several shades of red here men- 

 tioned are due to pigmentation ; but from the facts that there are 

 several shades, that in some of the species the color seems to persist in 

 the alcoholic specimens, and that the fishes come in a category many of 

 which — particularly of the related genus Eleotris, with eyes normally 

 developed, inhabiting much the same regions — are of similar shades of 

 color, it appears probable that such is the case. 



Perhaps the most interest attaclies to the color of the Mammoth Cave 

 blind fishes and those of the caves of Cuba ; for these are without any 

 question completely deprived of the influence of light. Cope ('72, p. 410) 

 speaks of Amblyopsis spelfeus as swimming " in full sight like white 

 aquatic ghosts " ; in his original description of Typhlichthys subter- 

 raneus, Girard ('59, p. G3) gives its color as a " uniform dull yellowish 

 white tint " ; and both these species as well as the Lucifuga are referred 

 to by Putnam as being " nearly colorless,'' as already mentioned. Also 

 Jordan and Gilbert ('82) describe both Amblyopsis and Typhlichthys 

 as " colorless," and in the same way Glinther ('80, p. 618), who re- 

 gards the two as belonging to the same genus, speaks of the body as 

 colorless. 



