Find strange fish living in caves

The scientists discovered that the fish is 1.5 meters long, 10 times heavier than the largest cave fish species recorded before.

The team, led by biologist Thomas Arbenz, recently made an expedition to the Meghalaya mountains in northeastern India to determine the identity of a strange fish living inside the cave. was first seen by explorer Daniel Harries in 2019.

Daniel Harries found a large fish in the Um Ladaw cave in India.(Photo: National Geographic).

Cave fish are known to be small in size, usually only a few to a few tens of centimeters long, due to the low food habitat. However, the creature found in Um Ladaw cave has an unusual length.

The new discovery raises many questions, such as what they eat to maintain body size, or how they adapt to the harsh living conditions inside deep, dark caves.

"They probably ate plants washed down by the rain, but no one saw that at the time of the cave. How big is this fish and what they eat is still a mystery , " said Harries. "There is definitely something strange because there are quite a lot of big fish here."

Um Ladaw cave viewed from above.(Photo: National Geographic).

As described in the journal Cave and Karst Science , the Um Ladaw cave fish may still be in the process of evolving into a new species, with the eyes gradually disappearing. Like most cave animals, this creature is essentially blind, but still able to sense light.

Um Ladaw cave has a steep structure, located nearly 100m underground. It can only be accessed in the dry season because during the monsoon seasons, the entire cave is flooded.

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