. Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. 98 BLIND VERTEBRATES AND THEIR EYES. Tellkampf has remarked: The blind fish is found solitary and is very difficult to be caught, since it requires the greatest caution to bring the net beneath them without driving them away. At the slightest motion of the water they dart off a short distance and usually stop. * * * During my stay at Mammoth Cave I observed that the AmUyopsis * * * remained motionless while I moved a burning lamp around them, but they were disturbed by a slight motion of the water, proving that the light made no impression upon
. Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. 98 BLIND VERTEBRATES AND THEIR EYES. Tellkampf has remarked: The blind fish is found solitary and is very difficult to be caught, since it requires the greatest caution to bring the net beneath them without driving them away. At the slightest motion of the water they dart off a short distance and usually stop. * * * During my stay at Mammoth Cave I observed that the AmUyopsis * * * remained motionless while I moved a burning lamp around them, but they were disturbed by a slight motion of the water, proving that the light made no impression upon their optic nerve, while their sense of touch was FIG. 33. (a, b, c) Distribution of Tactile Ridges in Troglichthys. Side view of entire fish, dorsal and ventral views of head. (<2t«,/) Distribution of Tactile Ridges in Chologaster papilliferus. Side view of entire tish, dorsal and ventral views oi anterior part of body. Dr. John Sloan in Packard, 1887, wrote: We carried our lighted candles within a few inches of them when near the surface, but they seemed wholly insensible to their existence; but if a drop of tallow fell in the water near them, they would swim rapidly away. I brought home 12, as many as could live in my bucket. Of these 12 caught in September none died until next June, when the water became warmed to near 70°, when several of them died with tetanic convulsions ( ?). I put the remainder in my cellar, where the temperature ranged from 45° to 60°, where one, "Blind Tom," lived n months, making 20 months of existence without having taken any visible food. While in my aquarium they manifested total indifference to light and sound. * * * They manifest great sensibility on the back and sides to any approaching body, but do not notice an attack from below. It is not possible to capture one by a side sweep of the net, but by passing it under him a considerable distance below and bringing it up slowly there is no difficulty in taking them. In t
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