Rare fish in Perry Co. may be indicator of water quality

Lewis and Clark described 122 animals new to science during their journey across North America. Two hundred years later it would seem that all animals have been described.

But defying the odds, deep underneath the rolling hills of Perry County resides a fish that has escaped description until recently. The fish's name is "grotto sculpin" and it is found nowhere else.

In 1991 a group of cave explorers, known as the Little Egypt Grotto, brought a puzzling fish to Dr. Brooks Burr, a fish expert at Southern Illinois University. Since then, Dr. Burr has encouraged students and researchers to investigate this sculpin.

Ginny Adams has worked the past four years with the grotto sculpin and learned several things about the unique cave dweller.

"Banded sculpins are fish common in the southern United States," Adams said, "and it is not unusual to see banded sculpins in caves. The ones in Perry County are different."

Different enough to be given a separate name -- grotto sculpin. Grotto and banded sculpins are closely related but have key differences that distinguish them.

Hard to see

According to Adams, grotto sculpins have reduced eyes with limited use. In dissecting the eyes she has learned that few rods and cones are present. Rods and cones are the parts of the eye that detect light and colors. Some of the fish don't even have an eye lens. This might seem crippling to us, but it is what you might expect for a cave-dwelling animal in which eyesight is useless.

While comparing the bodies of grotto sculpins with banded sculpins Adams has also established that the head shape is different, there are fewer rays on their pelvic fin and the skin color is nearly absent. Despite the visible differences this unique fish may not be a separate species.

"We should hopefully know in December if these are different species," Adams said. By then, genetic testing will be complete. Regardless of those findings the fish is unique in its own right.

If you think that this new fish is nothing more than a trivial oddity, you may want to reconsider. Adams pointed out that grotto sculpins are indicator species. Like the canary in the mine shaft, grotto sculpins tell us if conditions are safe underground. In this case it is not the air quality they indicate but the water quality.

"If we make the water good for the sculpin," Adams said, "it makes water good for us."

Landowners who use well water should consider grotto sculpins a great thing to have underground.

Land use around sinkholes has a profound impact on ground water quality and sculpin health. Establishing a buffer of trees and other plants around a sinkhole can reduce soil erosion and filter out herbicide and pesticide run off. While this may take some small portion of a farm field out of production, the alternative will be the loss of a lot of quality topsoil over the years. The lost soil is not only useless to the farmer but it covers eggs and hatchlings of the grotto sculpin. Sinkholes are like arteries to cave streams and ground water sources. This makes sinkhole pollution control imperative.

Another threat to groundwater and cave life is trash in a sinkhole. Some of the trash placed in sinkholes can begin to leak acids, cleaners, oil and other contaminants into groundwater. Cleaning a sinkhole of trash is a wise idea; however, it can also be a lot of work and require special safety equipment. Grotto clubs are often willing to help with such projects for two reasons. First, they value a clean cave and sinkhole as much as anyone. Second, service projects like this are a way to show appreciation for permission to access cave entrances on private property.

Cave culture

Perry County has more than 650 caves, securing its place as the highest concentration of caves in the state. In addition, the caves in Perry County have the richest diversity of cave life anywhere in the state.

The grotto sculpin is one more thing to make Perry County special. As scientists like Adams learn more about the grotto sculpin, we gain a better sense of where we live and how deeply we are connected to the land.

It is "an important and rare privilege to work with an animal that is unknown," Adams said.

Hopefully she will have plenty of time to work with grotto sculpins as Perry County residents realize that this bizarre fish's well-being is solidly linked to their own.

A.J. Hendershott is an outreach and education regional supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation.