Discovering new fish without eyes

Fishermen at the University of Louisiana and the University of Kentucky (USA) have announced the discovery of a new fish species living in caves in southern Indiana.

Photos: Sci-News

The new species, named Amblyopsis hoosieri , has distinct details from the earlier hoosieri species , published in Zookeys magazine. This new species is closely related to the previously known Amblyopsis spelaea fish and lives in the longest cave system in the world, Mammoth cave in Kentucky. However, these two closely related species are separated by the Ohio River.

A clear difference is that Amblyopsis spelaea owns the rhodopsin gene so mutation to create vision . Whereas Amblyopsis hoosieri fish lacks this mutation ability, they lack eyes and are blind . Sci-News magazine said scientists described the new fish as long as 6 - 8cm with a rather large head compared to the whole body and slightly flat back.

Amblyopsis hoosieri blind fish is homogeneous in pink and white pigments and transparent fins. A special point is that the anus is located right behind the head and the female will bring the fry in its gills. The blind fish was found living in streams of limestone caves in Indiana and their environment was 0.1 - 2m below the surface.