Interactions
The blind cave eel is a member of
one of the richest stygofaunal communities in the world. With
over 400 species, this community is as complex as any.
(Biodiversity, 2009) With an average length of 343 mm (Mees,
1962), the blind cave eel is one of the largest organisms in
this community. Because of this, Ophisternon candidum takes a
comfortable seat that the top of the food chain. Along with
being a predator, the blind cave eel exhibits some form of
relationship with the blind cave gudgeon.
Being the largest comes with a large advantage: nobody can easily eat you. With this advantage the blind cave eel has risen to the top of the food chain that it lives in. It feeds upon the other members, which are mostly crustaceans, that comprise its community. It is known to forage in open cave environments and to burrow into sediments that have collected on the cave floors. The sediments are home to small sediment foraging species. The main constituents of these sediment foragers are atyid shrimp. Evidence that these shrimp come from the sediments comes in the finding of sand grains along with the shrimp in the eels' guts. Besides the other stygofauna the eel feeds upon, it also feeds opportunistically on terrestrial organisms that make their way into the cave system. They take advantage of every bit of energy input the system receives. Besides its predator relationship to the other organisms of the cave, it appears that the blind cave eel also posses some relationship with another member of its community.
The blind cave gudgeon is another troglobite occupying the caves in the Cape Range peninsula. It is found in sympatry with the blind cave eel. In fact, there has been only one site found in which the blind cave eel exists without the blind cave gudgeon. (Humphreys, 1999) This would suggest some sort of relationship between the two. The exact nature of such a relationship is unclear at this time. There is no information to suggest that either party gains any advantage from the arrangement or if both species were isolated together by chance. More information is needed to ascertain the nature of this relationship.
The lack of accessibility to the environment in which this community exists has led to a deficiency in information regarding the interactions amongst its members. There a few clear relationships that can be made. With its large size and well-developed teeth (Mees, 1962) the blind cave eel is the top of the food chain. With their diminutive size and ability to filter out particulate organic matter, miniscule invertebrates comprise the base of the food web. (Biodiversity, 2009) Everything in between and any other form of relationship whether it's commensal, parasitic, mutualistic, or competitive is completely unknown.