TikTok video leads scientists to discover a strange new species of earthworm eel hiding in India
To identify the earthworm eel, researchers pumped water into the holes to help it emerge.
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THE TAKEAWAY
- A TikTok video helped researchers find a new species of eel.
- Researchers discovered the creature to be a translucent earthworm eel.
- Experts successfully recovered a whole eel for further testing.
INDIA – A new eel species has been discovered in India, showing translucent qualities never before seen in this creature.
Experts have identified this slimy creature as an earthworm eel, part of the Chaudhuriidae family, consistent with freshwater fish.
Researchers first noticed it in India when experts stumbled upon a TikTok video in 2024 from the India-Nepal border showing the tiny creature slithering into a machine-drilled hole.
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Earthworm eels are found in aquatic vegetation, debris and mud in streams, swamps, ponds, lakes and rivers, according to a study from ZooKeys.
Newly discovered earthworm eel found in India. (Akshay Khandekar)
To identify these animals, researchers pumped water into the holes to help the eel emerge.
This proved successful, as they collected one entire live specimen and two damaged ones.
Through further testing, researchers identified a unique set of osteological characteristics, noting that this creature exhibits stygobitic traits.
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This is the first stygobitic Chaudhuriidae ever found, and its translucent appearance can distinguish it. Stygobitic animals live exclusively underground and underwater.
Close up photo of the new species of earthworm eel found in India. (Akshay Khandekar)
It has 64 vertebrae, 37 dorsal-fin rays, 35 anal-fin rays, six tail-fin rays and only one pectoral-fin ray.
The creature, Gangaichthys Indonepalicus, has neural spines and is about 4 centimeters long.
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It has no body pigmentation, very small eyes covered by skin and no ribs.
These traits likely result from convergent evolution, driven by long-term life in dark, resource-poor habitats.