
Scientists have discovered a bizarre new “demon cavefish” species beneath a heavily monitored U.S. Army base in Alabama. The eyeless, colorless fish, which appears faintly electric blue, was found in Bobcat Cave beneath Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, according to a UAH press release from July. “This is one of the last places we’d have bet on it,” lead researcher Matthew L. Niemiller said. He called finding a new freshwater fish genus in eastern North America “a little like finding a new kind of big cat.” The discovery is particularly striking because the cave has been monitored at least quarterly for more than 30 years. Researchers named the new genus Demogorgonichthys arcanus—a reference to the mythical “Demogorgon” from Dungeons & Dragons and Stranger Things, with arcanus meaning “hidden” or “secret.” The fish evolved its lack of eyes and pigment independently from the Southern Cavefish, which also lives in Bobcat Cave. “This is the part I find most remarkable,” Niemiller said, adding that the Demogorgonichthys arcanus “found its own separate way into the underground world and lost its eyes and pigment independently, millions of years apart.” Niemiller added: “The ‘Demon Cavefish’ is a reminder that our inventories are far from finished, even in well-explored places.”














