The Thysville Caves are a

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

complex in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, located near the town of

Mbanza-Ngungu Mbanza-Ngungu, formerly known as Thysville or Thysstad, named after Albert Thys, is a city and territory in Kongo Central Province in the western part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, lying on a short branch off the Matadi-Kinshasa Railway. I ...

(formerly Thysville). The cave complex is fed by tributaries of the Lower

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

, and extends across an area of 750 square kilometers. Flowing water carries nutrients from the surface into the caves, which nourishes aquatic life adapted to the lightless environment. The caves are home to an

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

blind

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest ver ...

fish, ''

Caecobarbus geertsii ''Caecobarbus geertsi'', the African blind barb or Congo blind barb (known as ''Nzonzi a mpofo'' in the local Kikongo language, meaning "blind barb"), is a species of cyprinid fish. This threatened cavefish is only known from Democratic Republi ...

'', listed as vulnerable in the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

. The caves are relatively unknown scientifically, and may be home to other endemic fish and invertebrate species.

References

* Toham, Andre Kamdem ''et al.'', eds. (2006). ''A Vision for Biodiversity Conservation in Central Africa: Biological Priorities for Conservation in the Guinean-Congolian Forest and Freshwater Region''. World Wildlife Fund, Washington DC. Page A-52. {{coord missing, Democratic Republic of the Congo Freshwater ecoregions Congo River Ecoregions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Caves of the Democratic Republic of the Congo