Gitchak nakana:
A new groundwater fish species, ‘Gitchak Nakana’, has been recently discovered in Assam.
- It is a new species of groundwater fish.
- It belongs to a newly described genus within the family Cobitidae (loaches).
- Named Gitchak nakana, the species draws from the Garo language, “Gitchak” meaning red, referencing its striking blood-red live colour, and “na-tok” and “kana” referring to a blind fish.
- It displays classic subterranean adaptations, or troglomorphies: no externally visible eyes, a translucent, pigmentless body, and extreme miniaturization.
- It is the most unusual among other groups due to the complete lack of a skull roof, with the brain covered dorsally only by skin.
- It lives in aquifers, groundwater habitats far more difficult to access.
- While more than 300 fish species worldwide are known from subterranean habitats, the vast majority inhabit caves.
- Fewer than 10 percent are known from groundwater aquifers, making such discoveries rare.
