Cave Faunas of the Upper Mississippi Valley Region

Over 300 non-accidental animal species are recorded from subterranean (cave and groundwater) habitats in the Upper Mississippi River Valley (UMV) region. Most of these are trogloxenes or troglophiles and these are not restricted to nor morphologically specialized for subterranean habitats. Conspicuous examples are bats, fish, moths, camel crickets, and many kinds of flies. A rich fauna of some 56 species are seemingly obligatory inhabitants of subterranean habitats. Twenty-two species of these are terrestrial, termed troglobites, and 34 species are aquatic, called stygobites. The troglobites include pseudoscorpions, mites, spiders, millipeds, collembolans, bristletails, and a beetle. These generally have smaller distributional ranges, but some do occur in states outside of the UMV region. The stygobites include flatworms, snails, amphipods, and isopods. These generally have larger distributional ranges and most occur in southwestern Illinois, which was near to, but not covered by Pleistocene glacial ice. A subset of stygobites are known only from groundwaters in non-cavernous glaciated regions. Among the vertebrates, ten species of trogloxenic cave-inhabiting bats are known from the UMV. Other vertebrates include the Spring cavefish (Forbesichthys agassizii), three species of plethodontid salamanders, one frog, and a bird that nests in cave entrances. Included among the mammals, other than bats, are the White-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), Eastern woodrat Neotoma floridana, and Raccoon (Procyon lotor).

Publication date: 02.12.2020.