‘One Of A Kind’: Rare Blind Shrimp Found Only In St Julian’s Submerged Cave
Malta’s only fully-submerged terrestrial cave can add another unique thing on its list of special features: the islands’ first recorded case of a very rare species of blind shrimp.
“The blind Ħarq il-Ħammiem cave-amphipod is one of its kind and only exists in St Julian’s special underground cave, which is the only one in the Maltese Islands to feature three different types of water,” prominent naturalist Arnold Sciberras said.
Sciberras offered his expertise on Maltese biodiversity in a team of researchers which also included renowned marine biologist Alan Deidun, Italian ichthyologist Sabrina Lo Brutto and Italian carcinologist Davide Iaciofano. Meanwhile, Justin Formosa and Jeffrey Sciberras helped with the essential fieldwork research.
In total, 10 specimens of the extremely Neogammarus karamani were collected from the cave: one male with a body length of just 1.6 centimetres, seven females that were slightly smaller, and two “broken specimens”.
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The water inside the cave approximates freshwater at the surface, turning brackish with depth and having seawater characteristics at deeper levels (below the floor of the upper chamber). Unfortunately, while the mysterious case is extremely unique, it definitely isn’t as conserved as it should be.
“The site has been under siege for decades, from roads and construction on top of it to encroachment in the valley,” Sciberras told Lovin Malta. “Alas, the most recent disaster destroyed the site completely, much to the feat that most biota haven’t been seen or become very rare recently. This bio-ecological indicator blind cave amphipod is one of them.”
Have you ever been to Ħarq il-Ħammiem?
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