For every species that disappears, there is a new one being found. Animals and plants adapt to their environment, often slowly. These adaptations aren't noticeable at first but gradually they emerge. One of these adaptations can be found in a new blind fish species with no scales discovered in Kurdistan.
The blind fish has no scales and has been given the scientific name Eidinemacheilus proudlovei. It is a fish belonging to the loach family. The fish seems to have its adaptation since it lives in inaccessible subterranean streams.
The discovery has been made by a team of researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries and the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK). The team has been joined by Iraqi scientists. The discovery has been first made at the end of March.
The blind fish turned up after a heavy rainfall in the northern Zagros mountains in Iraq. A number of them were found after a new water source came up from the rainfall. A few of the specimens have been taken by Korsh Ararat, a biologist from the University of Sulaimani based in Sulaymaniyah, according to Science Daily. Ararat then contacted Dr. Jorg Freyhof, an ichthyologist at IGB.
Dr. Freyhof studied the fish, comparing them from other loach fishes in the region. Dr. Matthias Geiger analyzed its DNA at ZFMK. After much analysis, they realized that the fish is genetically different from other known loaches. The fish has been named in honor of Graham S. Proudlove, who was an expert in cave fishes, as AlphaGalileo reports.
Dr. Freyhof said that as of now not much is known about the fish. He speculates that the fish probably thrived on bacteria found on cave walls. That is not certain, though, and the source from where it came from has dried up. The fish remains in its inaccessible habitat. Conservation of such species is vital, as they are an endangered group that is being affected by continued progress, such as the making of dams.
The new blind fish with no scales has been discovered in Kurdistan. Scientists would like to know more about it, if there is another chance of finding it in its habitat. Earlier a new species of ancient giant sea lizards have been found in Antarctica.
