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List of troglobites#Crustacea

{{Short description|Animals that live underground}}

{{Distinguish|Troglodyte (disambiguation){{!}}troglodyte|trilobite}}

A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves. These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live underground (eutroglophiles), and species that are only cave visitors (subtroglophiles and trogloxenes).{{cite journal |last=Sket |first=Boris |date=2008-06-01 |title=Can we agree on an ecological classification of subterranean animals? |journal=Journal of Natural History |volume=42 |issue=21–22 |pages=1549–1563 |issn=0022-2933 |doi=10.1080/00222930801995762 |s2cid=84499383}} Land-dwelling troglobites may be referred to as troglofauna, while aquatic species may be called stygofauna, although for these animals the term stygobite is preferable.

Troglobites typically have evolutionary adaptations to cave life. Examples of such adaptations include slow metabolism, reduced energy consumption, better food usage efficiency, decrease or loss of eyesight (anophthalmia), and depigmentation (absence of pigment in the integument). Conversely, as opposed to lost or reduced functions, many species have evolved elongated antenna and locomotory appendages, in order to better move around and respond to environmental stimuli. These structures are also full of chemical, tactile, and humidity receptors. Troglobites commonly do not survive well outside caves and therefore cannot travel between separate cave systems. As a result, many troglobiotic species are endemic to a single cave or system of caves.{{cite book |title=Biospeleology: the biology of cavernicolous animals |last=Vandel |first=Albert |date=1965 |publisher=Pergamon Press |isbn=9781483185132 |location=Oxford |oclc=893738507 |url=https://archive.org/details/biospeleologybio0000vand |url-access=registration}}{{cite book |title=Caves and karstic phenomena. Life in subterranean world |last=Stoch |first=Fabio |publisher=Italian Ministry of the Environment and Territory Protection and Friuli Museum of Natural History |year=2001 |series=Italian Habitats |location=Udine, Italy |url=http://www.udinecultura.it/opencms/opencms/release/ComuneUdine/cittavicina/cultura/it/musei/storianaturale/pubblicazioni/quaderni/allegati_en/01_Caves_Karstic_Phenomena_1.pdf |access-date=2017-08-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804174142/http://www.udinecultura.it/opencms/opencms/release/ComuneUdine/cittavicina/cultura/it/musei/storianaturale/pubblicazioni/quaderni/allegati_en/01_Caves_Karstic_Phenomena_1.pdf |archive-date=2017-08-04}}{{cite book |title=The biology of caves and other subterranean habitats |last1=Culver |first1=D.C. |last2=Pipan |first2=Tanja |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780199219933 |location=New York |oclc=248538645}}{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of caves |last1=Culver |first1=D.C. |last2=White |first2=W.B. |publisher=Elsevier/Academic Press |year=2012 |isbn=9780123838322 |edition=2nd |location=Waltham, MA |oclc=776633368}}

Not all cave dwelling species are considered to be troglobites. An animal found in an underground environment may be a troglophile (a species living both in subterranean and in epigean habitats, e.g. bats and cave swallows) or a trogloxene (a species only occurring sporadically in a hypogean habitat and unable to establish a subterranean population).

Flatworms

Mollusca

=Bivalvia=

=Gastropoda=

Velvet worms

Arthropoda

=Arachnida=

File:Trogloraptor marchingtoni (Female); captive specimen.jpg

=Myriapoda=

;Millipedes

File:Sinocallipus deharvengi head.jpg]]

;Centipedes

=Crustacea=

;Crayfish

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;Others

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File:Leptodirus hochenwartii.jpg, a species of cave adapted beetle from various European localites.]]

=Insecta=

{{Hatnote|See: Cave insect}}

Fish

{{Main article|Cavefish}}

Amphibians

Mammals

No known mammals live exclusively in caves. Most bats sleep in caves during the day and hunt at night, but they are considered troglophiles or trogloxenes. However some fossorials which spend their whole lives underground might be considered subterranean fauna, although they are not true troglofauna as they do not live in caves.

Echinodermata

Porifera

Annelida

See also

In popular culture

There is a zombie named the Troglobite in Plants vs. Zombies 2.

References

{{Reflist|24em}}

Category:Cave animals

Troglobites