, 205
The past decade has seen a significant increase in American caving-related activity in southeast Asia, and Việt Nam in particular. Currently, there are two main areas of activity: Northern Việt Nam within the Lạng Sơn UNESCO Geopark, and in Central Việt Nam in or near to Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park (PNKB). Both parks present extraordinary, generational opportunities as well as challenges. Here we provide an update on recent efforts to document and describe species of cave-adapted fish and arthropods within the Tiger Cave System in PNKB. Fish have been noted for some time in Hang Over and Danny Caves, parts of the Tiger Cave System watershed, and in recent years newly described species have been reported within the Sơn Đoòng Cave watershed. However, during a survey and exploration expedition conducted in 2023, the fish populations in Hang Over Cave and Python Cave were more closely inspected, and it appears that these fish differ substantially from other species previously documented in the National Park. Further reports of fish residing in at least two other nearby caves, Danny Cave and an unnamed blind pit, led us to begin efforts to compare and describe these species. Our goal is to determine if they are new species or a range-extension of existing species, including fish found and described in Laos, in the Hin Nam No National Park, covering part of a transboundary karst region alongside PNKB in Việt Nam, with a long-term goal of a thorough accounting of the Tiger Cave System species.
Dean A. Wiseman, Ph.D
Department of Biology, Shaheen .
College of Arts & Sciences, University of Indianapolis. Indianapolis, Indiana USA
wisemand@uindy.edu