New fish species found in Meghalaya

Shillong: A new species of blind fish has been discovered inside a cave in East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, a New Zealand-based science journal has revealed.

The fish — Schistura larketensis — gets its name from Larket village, where the cave has been found, the journal, Zootaxa, said.

The species has apparently lost its sight living in the perpetual darkness inside the cave, a joint team of scientists from the Gauhati University and the North Eastern Hill University said.

It has also lost its pigments too while adapting to its habitat in the dark waters, they said.

Khlur Mukhim, a leading researcher from Gauhati University, came across the blind fish in the cave several years ago during an expedition.

The cave is about 880 meters above sea level and over 7 km in length.

Mr Mukhim said that the study came out recently though it was found several years ago as he had to corroborate the available facts and figures to establish that the fish was actually blind and belonged to a new species.

The fish sample was collected from small stagnant pools, a few square meters in area and about 1-2 m in depth, about 1,600 feet from the cave entrance.

The pool bed is mostly sandy with pebbles. Other species found inside the cave include weakly pigmented crabs and crayfish, spiders, crickets, coc-kroaches and millipedes, small frogs and snakes.

Scientists had, in the past, chanced upon porcupine paws and quills on the muddy floor of a passage in the same cave.