Shafaq News- Al-Anbar (Updated on Aug. 12, at 11:34)

Blind fish found in a cave in Iraq’s Al-Anbar province are not a discovery, an environmental official told Shafaq News on Tuesday, noting that their presence was first documented in 2010.

According to Qais Najeh, director of the Al-Anbar Environmental Directorate, the cave is located in Al-Khasfa, a low-lying area known for its cracks and groundwater sites. He described the fish as living in the darker sections of the cave, adding that the same type has been found in a well behind the Sheikh Hadid shrine in the Haditha district.

“The presence of eyeless fish in a cave environment is an unusual natural phenomenon,” he argued, stressing that further examination will seek to learn more about the cave, its water channel, and the species living there.

Adel al-Ahmadi, an expert specializing in the nomenclature of Iraqi fish, told Shafaq News that the species is a distinctive case of adaptation to dark cave environments. It loses its eyes entirely at maturity, and its body takes on a white-to-pink color due to the absence of pigmentation. The fish also lacks barbels and a mental disc, features that set it apart from other cave fish in Iraq.

The species was discovered by Iraqi researcher Basim Mohammed al-Azzawi of the Natural History Research Center in Baghdad, who collected the first specimens from caves near the shrine of Sheikh Hadid, according to al-Ahmadi. He said the significant anatomical differences led researchers to establish a separate scientific genus for the fish, as no closely related genus existed to place it in.

The fish grows to no more than about 49 millimeters and lives in stable groundwater with temperatures between 20 and 22 degrees Celsius, al-Ahmadi said. It favors dark environments, becoming active at night and hiding among rocks when disturbed, and is believed to feed on aquatic insects, diatoms, and green algae.

Al-Ahmadi said the species has no direct economic value but holds considerable scientific value, and could draw interest from ornamental-fish enthusiasts if bred through scientific programs that preserve its genetic diversity. He cautioned that its limited range makes it highly sensitive to any environmental change.