27 Unknown Creatures Found in California Caves

It is strange how creatures can evolve to live in a specific place. Especially in a small area. Think of how long it must have taken for them to evolve to live in the caves. Its not like the just walked in and became cave dwellers. At some point one of their ancestors must have slowly over time crawled into the cave and evetually became what we find today.

I remember in a pet store in california you could buy cave minnows from mexico or panama (I don't remember where). They looked like plain ol' minnows, they had eyes and everything. But apparently (according to the LFS owner) skin would cover the eyes of the fish making them blind.
 
Cave critters come closest to creeping me out--the blind, white ones. Cool, but almost give me the willies, where the 'normal' cousins don't bother me at all.
 
OrionGirl said:
Cave critters come closest to creeping me out--the blind, white ones. ...
For me, it's the creatures that live in the very deepest parts of the ocean. There are so many that have never been discovered - so the experts say...

Then again, I'm not sure if they "creep me out" or, cause that "drop jaw fascination" feeling.
 
I share your fascination with extreme deep-sea critters, Joe. I would love to explore the deepest parts of the oceans..especially the Mariana Trench.
 
Slappy*McFish said:
I share your fascination with extreme deep-sea critters, Joe. I would love to explore the deepest parts of the oceans..especially the Mariana Trench.
Agreed. You know, I use to have debates with my Grandfather about whether of not mermaids existed when I was little. You never know, maybe I was right to believe in such a thing. Look at all the myths out there that have existed in cultures before any of them met, and yet they are similar. Explain that one...I'm personally waiting for some evidence of dragons, even if it is wishful thinking. Watch, some kind of serpent, or giant sea creature will exist in one of the deepest trenchs and we just have no clue...The problem is, the scientists that run these projects and sea-going expeditions don't get enough funding to build equipment strong enough to withstand all the pressure down there. Certainly wouldn't be manned though, they wouldn' risk it. Plus, I don't think you'd want to find one of those giant creatures, or have it find you down there either. Remember, in those depths, their prey could be bio-illuminescent, so what do you think the spolights will look like to them?
 
Riso-chan said:
Agreed. ...what do you think the spolights will look like to them?
Amazing!
I just thought about "light"... Since sunlight does not affect these deep depths, the Earth's mantle (heat) provides some type of environment for life.

Other planets could very well have these type of lifeforms. I'm almost sure of that...






Going to Puto is another matter... Maybe it's just to find out why our other spacecrafts are slowing down.


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msouth468 said:
I remember in a pet store in california you could buy cave minnows from mexico or panama (I don't remember where). They looked like plain ol' minnows, they had eyes and everything. But apparently (according to the LFS owner) skin would cover the eyes of the fish making them blind.

There is also the mexican Blind Cave Tetra. It's a variant of the same species (can't recaal which one) that is born with his eyes open, but as they mature, skin covers the eyes and they become blind. They live in very dark caves. My LFS carries them!

blindcavetetra.jpg
 
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