This freshwater fish is completely blind, with its eyes degenerated into hollow structures covered by skin.
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), in collaboration with the Indonesian Speleological Society and the Species Obscura Foundation, have discovered a new species of blind cave fish in Bogor district, West Java.
Speaking to the press on February 27, Kunto Wibowo, a researcher from BRIN’s Centre for Biosystematics and Evolution Research, noted that the fish species was found inhabiting the Klapanunggal karst area, leading to its scientific naming as Barbodes klapanunggalensis.
This freshwater fish is completely blind, with its eyes degenerated into hollow structures covered by skin, he said.
He stressed the need for the Government to launch a more stringent protection system for the Klapanunggal karst area, highlighting the urgency of expanding the designated conservation area, which currently covers only 9.96 per cent of the total area.
According to the ZooKeys journal, Indonesia is now home to six endemic blind cave fish species, with Barbodes klapanunggalensis and Barbodes microps found on Java Island. The other four species are endemic to Sulawesi and West Papua. — VNA/VNS
