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Gangaichthys indonepalicus, the newly discovered species
In 2024 a short video clip circulated on TikTok showed an unknown, tiny, colourless creature emerge from a borewell near the border between India and Nepal, beneath the Indo-Gangetic plain. Scientists soon began studying this first recorded subterranean eel-like fish in the Gangetic Basin and named it Gangaichthys indonepalicus.
“Gangaichthys” means “fish of the Ganga” while “indonepalicus” connotes the species’ geographical distribution. The new species was reported in the journal ZooKeys. No more than 4 cm in length, these fish are have clearly evolved to survive in complete darkness: their eyes are covered by skin and their bodies are translucent.
But studying the new species was no easy task. The international team of scientists had to manually pump thousands of litres of groundwater in Bihar to collect three specimens. The first individual was caught after the researchers pumped 2,000 litres of water from borewells (a machine-drilled shaft used to access water from underground aquifers), but it succumbed to injuries. Then, after pumping 500 more litres of water, a second live specimen emerged.
For the study, the scientists sampled more than 15 borewells which they pumped by hand; they were able to collect three specimens of the new species from two borewells.
