Cumaca Cave is a large

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

system located in northern

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, in the southeastern area of the

Northern Range The Northern Range is the range of tall hills across north Trinidad, the major island in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The hills range from the Chaguaramas peninsula on the west coast to Toco in the east. The Northern Range covers approx ...

. This cave is sometimes also called Oropouche. The caves are home to bats and

Oilbirds The oilbird (''Steatornis caripensis''), locally known as the , is a bird species found in the northern areas of South America including the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It is the only species in the genus ''Steatornis'', the family Steatornith ...

(''Steatornis caripensis''). These are the only

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

fruit eating birds in the world. They forage at night, navigating by echolocation in the same way as

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

s, but with a high-pitched clicking sound audible to humans.Snow (2008), pp. 137–143. The cave is also home to

hypogean Hypogeal, hypogean, hypogeic and hypogeous (; ) are biological terms describing an organism's activity below the soil surface. In botany, a seed is described as showing hypogeal germination when the cotyledons of the germinating seed remain n ...

fishes Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

. Most notably the semi-blind

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

, ''

Rhamdia ''Rhamdia'' is a genus of three-barbeled catfishes found in Mexico, Central and South America. These catfishes are nocturnal, opportunistic carnivores, found in a wide range of freshwater habitats. This genus includes a number of troglobitic me ...

quelen'' or South American Catfish, which was at first believed to be a distinct cave species and was named ''Caecorhamdia urichi''. But it is now known as a

troglobite A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves. These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live u ...

form of ''Rhamdia quelen'', with reduced eye size and reduced

pigmentation A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compo ...

Footnotes

References

* Aldemaro Romero. (2002). "Replacement of the Troglomorphic Population of Rhamdia quelen (Pisces: Pimelodidae) by an Epigean Population of the Same Species in the Cumaca Cave." ''Copeia'', Vol. 2002, December 2002. *

Snow, D.W. David William Snow (30 September 1924 – 4 February 2009) was an English ornithologist born in Windermere, Westmorland. Career and personal life He won a scholarship to Eton and started there in 1938 just before his 14th birthday. He won ...

(2008). ''Birds in Our Life''. William Sessions Limited. (pbk).

External links

Oilbird Caves of Trinidad
Accessed 30 March 2011
"Rhamdia quelen (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) South American catfish."
Natural history of Trinidad and Tobago Caves of Trinidad and Tobago Caves of the Caribbean {{Trinidad-geo-stub