''Lucifuga'' is a genus of viviparous brotulas. Most of the species are native to caves and

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

; ''L. inopinata'' from deep water off the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...

is the only exception. The four species rated by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

are all considered vulnerable. The largest species in the genus reaches about in length.

Species

There are currently eight recognized species in this genus: * '' Lucifuga dentata'' Poey, 1858 (Toothed Cuban cusk-eel) *'' Lucifuga gibarensis'' * ''

Lucifuga inopinata ''Lucifuga'' is a genus of viviparous brotulas. Most of the species are native to caves and sinkholes in Cuba and the Bahamas; ''L. inopinata'' from deep water off the Galápagos Islands is the only exception. The four species rated by the IUCN ...

'' Cohen & McCosker, 1998 * '' Lucifuga lucayana'' Møller, Schwarzhans, Iliffe & J. G. Nielsen, 2006 (Lucaya cavebrotula) * '' Lucifuga simile'' Nalbant, 1981 * '' Lucifuga spelaeotes'' Cohen & C. R. Robins, 1970 (New Providence cusk-eel) * '' Lucifuga subterranea'' Poey, 1858 (Cuban cusk-eel) * '' Lucifuga teresinarum'' Díaz Pérez, 1988

References

Bythitidae Cave fish Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Bythitidae-stub