Rare eyeless fish found in Iraq’s Al-Anbar underground water

Shafaq News- Al-Anbar

Blind fish found in a cave in Iraq’s Al-Anbar province are not a new 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.