Found at 2,062 meters: scientists discover ghostly, eyeless creature hidden in Chinese cave

A snail adapted to darkness

Erhaia dijiang has fully lost its eyes and has a delicate, unpigmented body, long slender tentacles and a cone-shaped shell that is nearly transparent. Researchers reported the species in the journal Subterranean Biology.

A high cave habitat

Scientists found the species at 2,062 meters in a limestone cave in Yuxi City, Yunnan. That makes it the highest-altitude cave snail yet recorded in the family Erhaiidae.

Few individuals found

During the team’s first field investigation in August 2025, researchers found three living adults and one empty shell. They found no juveniles, and the known population appears extremely sparse.

In laboratory observations, the snails ate diatoms growing on rock surfaces and fish food supplied by researchers. The study says no freshwater cave snails had previously been documented in China, where subterranean freshwater mollusks have received relatively little scientific attention.

Researchers urge protection

Researchers describe the species’ conservation outlook as “far from optimistic.” Its restricted cave habitat and the very small number found have prompted calls for prompt protective measures. The team is urging broader surveys of caves across China to identify other species and improve understanding of fragile underground habitats. Researchers say protections are needed before vulnerable mollusks are threatened while their populations remain poorly understood.