Field Research to Determine the Distribution of a Cave-Adapted Sculpin (Osteichthyes: Cottidae)

Careful examination of 35 Missouri caves, 95 Illinois caves, 17 Tennessee caves, 2 Indiana caves, and 11 Arkansas caves has shown cave-adapted banded sculpins (Cottus carolinae) to be limited to only two karst areas of Perry County, Missouri. Within these two karst areas, the sculpins are known from only 7 caves, though they may be in a few other caves that are hydrologically connected to these known sites. They were found in large cave streams, in pools and riffles, and on a variety of substrates, from sediment to breakdown. Banded sculpins without features of cave adaptation were found in caves of other areas of Missouri, and in Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee and are reported from Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia caves as well. Caves of Perry County provide a unique habitat for sculpins, and also pose a serious threat, as they are located downgradient of the city of Perryville and other smaller communities that are intensively farmed. Specific documented threats include high levels of potassium, ammonia, nitrite + nitrate, and chloride, probably from agricultural fertilizers, organic waste, septic systems, and livestock (Vandike 1985). Underneath Perry County lies the highest concentration of caves in Missouri (about 630 known in the county), and the four largest caves in the state (Unklesbay and Vineyard 1992). The size of these caves and their respective streams is probably a major factor in the limited distribution of these sculpins

Dharmamegha Samadhi in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.

The meaning of the terminology employed within the Yoga Sutra provokes much academic debate. This dissertation aims to examine the meaning and use of the term dharmamegha samadhi within the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. This new exploration of these terms is prompted by Ranganathan’s (2008) idea that dharma acts as a synonym for morality throughout the text and that in the dharmamegha state the yogi has achieved moral perfection. A study of the use of dharma and dharmamegha samadhi in the Yoga Sutra will allow us to draw tentative conclusions about what Patanjali meant by these terms and how he employed them. This will involve a close textual examination of the Yoga Sutra and of the writings of various translators and exegetes, ancient and contemporary, including several scholarly articles that have, within the past 10 years, dealt exclusively with interpretations of dharma and dharmamegha samadhi within Patanjali. Further background to the historical usage of dharma and dharmamegha samadhi will be gained from studying the works of the other Indian philosophical traditions, via secondary sources. Ranganathan (2008) asserts that dharma/morality is at the very heart of the Yoga Sutra. The findings from this research suggest that whilst an ethical and moral component is found with the yama and niyama section of the Yoga Sutra (2.30ff), the terms dharma and dharmamegha samadhi are used in a specialised and highly specific manner, actually referring to the essential nature of something, rather than acting as a moral or ethical term. A close reading of Patanjali leads me to conclude that dharma and morality are not used synonymously within the Yoga Sutra. Additionally, the terms dharma and dharmamegha samadhi, when compared to other contemporaneous texts, appear to have specialised meanings and are used in specific ways

A biological inventory of eight caves in Great Basin National Park.

unpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

CAVE MILLIPEDS OF THE UNITED STATES. IX. A NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS TAIYUTYLA (DIPLOPODA, CHORDEUMATIDA, CONOTYLIDAE) FROM CAVES IN SEQUOIA AND YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARKS, CALIFORNIA, USA

Abstract: During surveys of cave life in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Yosemite National Park, Taiyutyla loftinae, a new species of conotylid milliped, was collected and is described below. The new species occurs in eleven marble caves distributed throughout Sequoia National Park (Tulare County, California), two granite talus caves, and a single surface locality in Yosemite National Park (Mariposa County, California) and is best considered troglophilic, not troglobitic

Final Report: A BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF CAVES IN LAVA BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

Lava Beds National Monumentunpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Examining possible foraging differences in urban and rural cave cricket populations: Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C, δ15N) as indicators of trophic level

unpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Discovery of Endangered Mexican Blindcat, Prietella phreatophila, in Texas: Implications for International Groundwater Management and Evolution of the Regional Karst Aquifer Biota

Paper presented July 15, 2017 at the annual Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Austin, Texas, USA (http://conferences.k-state.edu/JMIH-Austin-2017/). The oral presentation of this content mentioned questions about the taxonomy and phylogenetic position of Prietella lundbergi and the only specimens attributed to P. lundbergi apart from the holotype. Since the presentation, we obtained high resolution CT scans of both the holotype and a specimen (TNHC 25767) from Cueva del Nacimiento del Río Frio, not far north of the type locality. The anatomy revealed in those CT scans suggests that these specimens represent a single species, and that P. lundbergi is only remotely related to Prietella phreatophila, which would be consistent with results of Wilcox, T.P., F.J. Garcı́a de León, Dean A. Hendrickson, and D.M. Hillis. 2004. “Convergence among Cave Catfishes: Long-Branch Attraction and a Bayesian Relative Rates Test.” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 (3): 1101–13. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.11.006). Thus, further research is in progress by Hendrickson, Lundberg, Luckenbill and Arce that may result in taxonomic revision removing P. lundbergi from Prietella.Mexican blindcat, Prietella phreatophila, described in 1954 from a cave system near the town of Múzquiz in central Coahuila state, and considered a Mexican endemic, was listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a foreign endangered species (protected "wherever found") in 1970. Explorations in the 1990s discovered many new localities extending nearly to the international border, and in 2016 the species was discovered in Amistad National Recreation Area (ANRA) in Texas, just north of the international border near Del Rio. Not only does the discovery support the aquifer of this fish being an internationally shared resource, but the stygobitic invertebrate biota found with the fish indicates a potentially large extent of the aquifer, and thus possibly the fish, in Texas. Invertebrate faunal connections (historic or current) extend from the Amistad Lake area of the new occurrence west into the Trans-Pecos region and east into the Edwards Aquifer of central Texas. We explore implications of this for both water management and evolutionary history of this and other blind ictalurids, and suggest that population genetic studies of both stygobitic fishes and invertebrates could help hydrogeologists better define often difficult to map aquifer extents and interconnections. While NPS is continuing to support the cave explorations of ANRA that produced the Texas discovery, we propose a broader bi-national sampling effort for both the fish and invertebrates extending well beyond the current known distribution of P. phreatophila. We also pointed out questions about phylogenetic relatedness of P. phreatophila and P. lundbergi further south, as well as the possibility of a monophyletic clade of blindcats, including those of the Edwards Aquifer, Satan and Trogloglanis. If substantiated, that evolutionary history would imply broader historic inter-aquifer connections ranging from the San Antonio area as far south as southernmost Tamaulipas. Finally, we report establishment of a small captive population of Prietella phreatophila at San Antonio Zoo for research and possibly eventual conservation applications.U.S. National Park Service; San Antonio Zoo; University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences and Department of Integrative BiologyIntegrative Biolog

Discovery of the Mexican Blindcat, Prietella phreatophila, in the U.S., and an update on its rangewide conservation status

presented at the 2017 meeting of the Texas Academy of Science at Mary Hardin Baylor University, Belton, TexasMexican blindcat, Prietella phreatophila, was described in 1954 from a single locality in Northern Coahuila, México. Long listed as endangered by the Mexican federal government, it was listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a foreign endangered species in 1970, and the most recent (1996) update of its assessment for the IUCN Red List considers it endangered as well. Explorations in the late 1990s discovered many new localities extending nearly to the international border, and a captive population established provided insights into the species’ basic biology and behavior. In 2016 the species was discovered in a cave in the Amistad National Recreation Area (ANRA), just north of the Río Grande in Texas. The 1970 listing instantly gave the TX population full protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The species’ subterranean and mostly inaccessible habitat endows it with extremely low detectability and its actual range is likely broader than physical sampling of specimens has revealed. We review all prior and new knowledge of the species and its habitat to provide an updated international reassessment of its overall conservation status and threats, which most notably include aquifer depletion and contamination in both the Mexican and U.S. portions of its known range. A live captive population of two specimens collected in 1997 in Coahuila and one Texas specimen is now at the San Antonio Zoo, we are working with NPS to further explore ANRA caves and hope eventually to return to Coahuila to more fully update the species’ conservation status.Integrative Biolog

Stygobite phylogenetics as a tool for determining aquifer evolution

textAbstract: The use of aquifer-dwelling organisms (stygobites) for learning about past and present subterranean hydrologic connections was evaluated in the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone), Trinity, and EdwardsTrinity (Plateau) aquifers of Texas and adjacent areas in north Mexico, an area with complex karst groundwater flow and sociopolitical problems stemming from overuse and contamination. A priori predictions of subterranean hydrogeologic history were made based on a literature review, and these predictions were compared to phylogenies of two aquifer dwelling isopods created based on mitochondrial gene sequences (16S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I). Using likelihood and parsimony-based comparisons, Cirolanides (Isopoda: Cirolanidae) was found to have a phylogenetic history congruent with a priori predictions of subterranean hydrogeologic history in its terminal nodes. Conversely, basal branches of the phylogenetic tree had placement that was not predicted by this history, a phenomenon that may be indicative of a lack of understanding of subterranean hydrogeology of the area. Lirceolus (Isopoda: Asellidae) had a phylogenetic history congruent with an alternative hypothesis of water flow, namely the patterns of surface drainages. This difference of patterns for two species that both live in the aquifer is probably related to their ecology and evolutionary history, with Cirolanides having invaded the cave habitat as a single marine population and Lirceolus invading the cave habitat as a freshwater migrant with possible pre-existing genetic structure determined by surface drainages. This study pioneers testing of a priori biogeographic hypotheses using phylogenies of aquifer organisms and the creation of hydrogeologic histories in a karst setting, and supports the use of these methods to aid in understanding biogeography and aquifer evolution.Biological Sciences, School o

Cave Biota of Great Basin National Park, White Pine County, Nevada

The objectives of this study were to: 1) Conduct cave invertebrate surveys in 15 known caves within the Park; 2) Develop complete cave invertebrate species composition lists for inventoried caves within the Park; 3) Identify potential threats to cave invertebrate populations and develop management strategies for caves harboring endemic and sensitive species based on the ecological and biological information available for the collected taxa; and, 4) Create a biological database that will allow GRBA personnel to create a GIS data layer of cave invertebrate species composition in the caves within the Park.INHS Technical Report Prepared for National Park Servic