Biologists have investigated a unique catfish

In the mountainous region of India, scientists have discovered a strange catfish with a bulldog face.

The rare creature has baffled scientists, as the discovered fish is not related to any of the available species of catfish. Kryptoglanis shajii, a small underground catfish, has been found in springs, wells and flooded rice fields in India’s mountainous Western Ghats region. It was first described as a new species in 2011. Shortly after, Dr. John Lundberg, one of the world’s leading experts on catfish, decided to take a closer look at several specimens.



On the outside, Kryptoglanis does not look particularly unusual for catfish. But when Lundberg and his colleagues looked at his skeleton using digital x-rays and CT scans, they found that the fish lacked several bone elements – characteristic of underground fish. Based on his teeth, Lundberg said Kryptoglanis most likely eats meat, in the form of small invertebrates and insect larvae - anything that can be found in groundwater and can be captured by fish that are less than ten centimeters.

Source: nauka24news.ru/