The NSS Bulletin - ISSN 1090-6924
Volume 44 Number 3: 98-101 - July 1982
A publication of the National Speleological Society

A Preliminary Report on the Cave Fauna of Burnsville Cove, Virginia
John R. Holsinger

Abstract

Nineteen species of cave animals-11 invertebrates and 8 vertebrates-are recorded from the caves of Brunsville Cove. Six species are troglobites, two are questionable troglobites, and the remainder are troglophiles, trogloxenes, and accidentals. The troglobitic fauna includes single species in the following groups: snails (?), amphipods, isopods, mites (?), spiders, millipeds, collembolans, and beetles. In comparison to large cave system in the Greenbrier, Clinch, and Powell river basins of Virginia and West Virginia, the cave species diversity of Brunsville Cove is low. The geological isolation of this system is offered as an explaination for its impoverished cave fauna.

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