New shrimp-like species found in New Mexico cave
*
This undated photo provided by the Bureau of Land Management shows a newly
discovered species of freshwater amphipod. The agency announced the
discovery Tuesday, April 17, 2012, saying the new species was recently found
in a
subterranean pool inside a gypsum cave near Carlsbad, N.M. (AP
Photo/Bureau of Land Management, Randy Gibson)
By Susan Montoya Bryan
Associated Press / April 17, 2012
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Scientists have discovered a new shrimp-like species in
a gypsum cave in southeastern New Mexico, only a few dozen miles from the
famous caves at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
The species of amphipod was unknown before being discovered about a month
ago in the Burton Flats area east of Carlsbad, said Jim Goodbar, the Bureau
of Land Management's senior cave specialist. The agency announced the
discovery Tuesday.
Blind, about a half-inch long and almost translucent, the amphipod was
found in a subterranean pool inside a cave no more than 80 feet from the
surface. The cave had been explored before, but samples had never been taken
of
the water until a biological inventory was done as part of plans to expand
potash mining in the area.
For Goodbar and other cave researchers, short of rocketing into space, the
depths of the earth represent one of the last unexplored frontiers for
humankind.
"You never know what you're going to find down there," Goodbar said. "One
of the interesting things about this is these guys, these critters have been
down there for tens of thousands of years, millions of years and we're
just getting around to finding them."
More surveys of the area are planned, Goodbar said.
The new species has not been named, but officials said it has been grouped
with the Parabogidiella (para-bo-GIDDY-ella) genus, which was first
described in 1980 by John Holsinger with the Biological Sciences Department at
Old
Dominion University in Virginia.
An amphipod expert, Holsinger said Tuesday the species found near Carlsbad
is different from the other single species in the genus. He is currently
working on its complete description.
Members of the Bogidiellidea family have been documented in parts of
Mexico, but the new species represents the family's most northern extent, he
said.
Scientists know little about the new species. They're already making
guesses at whether it's carnivorous or feeds on bacteria, minerals or
vegetative
bits that find their way into the cave's water.
"They're very cryptic," Holsinger said. "These things are usually found in
groundwater and you can very rarely observe them firsthand."
Goodbar said the Bureau of Land Management is planning for a series of
monitoring wells near the Burton Flats caves to keep an eye on water levels
once the mining company begins pumping water for its proposed operations. The
agency is developing mitigation plans that call for an end to pumping in
the area if a certain threshold is reached.
The BLM is working on balancing protection of the new species and the
area's water supply with development of the region's vast potash resources,
Goodbar said.
The water in the caves is replenished by rainwater soaking down through
cracks and crevices in the Earth's surface and fresh water from a shallow
underground aquifer.
"I think the implications are that we really need to protect the
groundwater aquifers because there are species there that live nowhere else on
Earth," Goodbar said.
_http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2012/04/17/new_shrimp_like_spec
ies_found_in_new_mexico_cave/_
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