Lost River - Karst Information Portal

Little brown bat.
The endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis)
hibernates in large clusters in sites like
Wyandotte Cave, but with the exception of
“bachelor colonies” of males, it is absent from
caves during the summer. The little brown bat
(Myotis lucifugus) and big brown bat (Eptesicus
fuscus) usually hang singly or in small clusters.
The white-footed mouse is perhaps the most
common mammal in Indiana caves, but is rarely
Big brown bats.
Cave Fauna of Indiana
seen. Likewise, raccoons are common in our
caves, although the latrines are seen much more
frequently than the animals. The Allegheny
woodrat is present in a few caves along the Ohio
River in Harrison and Crawford counties.
Birds – The eastern phoebe (Sayornis
phoebe) is commonly found in cave entrances,
where it places its nest on the wall in the
twilight zone.
Salamanders – The most brightly
colored animals occurring in Indiana caves
are undoubtedly the cave salamander
(Eurycea lucifuga) and long-tail salamander
(E. longicauda), which are bright orange and
yellow, respectively, dotted with black spots
or bars. The slimy salamander (Plethodon
glutinosis) is solid black with white spots,
while the related zigzag salamander (Plethodon
dorsalis) is shorter and mottled in appearance
with a zigzag stripe down the back.
Fish – The only troglobitic vertebrate in
Indiana is the northern cavefish (Amblyopsis
spelaea), which is known from numerous caves
south of the East Fork of White River. It occurs
only in the south-central karst, where it is usually
found in places where there is relatively deep
water. The banded sculpin (Cottus carolinae)
is a bizarre-looking fish with a large head and
mottled appearance that blends in remarkably
well with the stream gravels it rests upon. It is
a common fish in Indiana caves and sometimes
occurs by the hundreds.
Crayfish – Two subspecies of the cave
crayfish occur in Indiana, Orconectes inermis
Cave crayfish (Orconectes).
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