Translucent cave creature — with visible organs — found in China. See the new species
Deep under the surface of a jagged, rocky landscape in China, a pool of water holds undiscovered secrets.
The porous surface of the karst stone helps water flow and gather under the rocks until it’s trapped.
In one of these pools, only reachable through a narrow passage in a cave, a translucent fish swims blindly.
It’s a new species.
Karstsinnectes longzhouensis, or the Longzhou Chinese Karst Loach, is a 2-inch long yellowish fish, according to a study published May 27 in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.
The fish’s body is “gray and translucent,” and the “stomach and intestine (are) visible from (the) outside,” researchers said.
The loach has a forked back fin, which is different from other known species, and is entirely scaleless, according to the study.
It’s also missing another important feature — eyes.
Behind “tube-shaped” nostrils and short barbels on the face, the eye sockets are covered over with skin, creating a smooth head, researchers said.
“The species was observed in a subterranean pool accessed through an oval cave entrance and a narrow passage,” researchers said. “The pool water depth exceeded (3 feet) and was characterized by a substratum of mud and cobblestones.”
The researchers said the fish used to determine the new species, the holotype, was collected in December 2022, but when they went back to the pool in May 2023, it showed signs of drying up.
They checked another cave, about 1,000 feet away, and found a “deteriorated” fish, according to the study.
“Decreased precipitation and the removal of domestic water from the cave appear to have negatively influenced the viability of cavefish during the dry season,” researchers said.
The karst cave is located in Longzhou County, in southern China near the border of Vietnam.
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Translucent cave creature — with visible organs — found in China. See the new species."
