''Typhleotris madagascariensis'' is a species of fish in the family

Milyeringidae Milyeringidae, the blind cave gobies, is a small family of gobies, in the order Gobiiformes. There are two genera and six species within the family, which is considered to be a subfamily of the Eleotridae by some authorities. Milyeringidae include ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

, where it is only known from underground waters in the southwestern portion of the island. This

cavefish Cavefish or cave fish is a generic term for fresh and brackish water fish adapted to life in caves and other underground habitats. Related terms are subterranean fish, troglomorphic fish, troglobitic fish, stygobitic fish, phreatic fish and ...

is blind and lacks pigmentation, and can reach a standard length of . This species is known from more than 10 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 the Mahafaly Plateau region, in places where the water temperature typically ranges from and the pH is slightly above neutral. Although considered

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

because of its restricted range and not found to be common anywhere in its range in earlier studies, recent surveys found that the species is locally abundant, occurring in especially high numbers in the Andranoilove, Andriamaniloke, Lalia and Mitoho caves. In the southern part of its range, ''T. madagascariensis'' co-occurs with '' T. mararybe'', which is not as common or widespread. ''T. madagascariensis'' feeds on various invertebrates. Some of the limestone caves where this fish can be found are protected by the Tsimanampetsotsa National Park, including the Mitoho Grotto tourist site. 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 ...

currently assess the species as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

but it has stated that further research is necessary on the taxonomic status of different populations of ''T. madagascarensis'' as the populations in unconnected cave systems may actually be allopatric species; if this is the case then the IUCN's assessment may require to be changed to Critically Endangered as the range for any individual species will be less than that for ''T. madagascarensis

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5480659 madagascariensis Cave fish Endemic fauna of Madagascar Freshwater fish of Madagascar Taxonomy articles created by Polbot