Top 10 Eyeless Animals in the World

Most animals rely on their eyes to perceive their surroundings, but there are some species without eyes that adapt to the environment through other senses. Usually, these eyeless animals, such as earthworms, leeches, starfish and sea anemones, rely mainly on touch to survive and hunt. So, in addition to these common eyeless animals, what other special species are there?

Here, the editor lists the 10 most amazing eyeless animals in the world, including cave salamanders, Liptodrus beetles, Kauai cave wolf spiders, Madagascar blind snakes, Mexican characins, cave blind lobsters, cave blind crabs, etc. Let's learn about these peculiar life forms together!

1. Cave salamander (king of the cave/no vision)

Among animals without eyes, cave salamanders (also known as blind salamanders) must be on the list. Olms are mainly found in southeastern Europe, along the Adriatic coast from northern Italy to Montenegro. They live in dark caves formed by groundwater throughout their lives, usually regularly sticking their nostrils out of the water to breathe air, and occasionally coming on land to forage. Due to living in a completely dark environment for a long time, the eyes of olms gradually degenerate and are almost unrecognizable, and their skin has no pigment.

Interestingly, if olms live in a lighted place, their eyes will grow back and their skin will turn brown. However, these eyes are not complete and lack important optic nerves, so even though they appear to have eyes, they are still blind.

2. Liptodrus beetle (the first cave-loving creature)

Liptodrus beetle is one of the most mysterious eyeless animals. It is said to be the first cave-loving creature discovered in the world, first discovered in 1832. The species is about 1 cm long and lives in dark caves, mainly feeding on rotting cave creature corpses. They are only distributed in a few limestone caves in the European Alps and southeast of Mount Dinaricus, and are particularly adapted to completely dark environments.

Liptodrus beetles rely on sensitive senses of smell and touch to perceive changes in the outside world, and have no eyes. If they are taken out of these dark cave environments, they can hardly adapt to other bright environments, and their evolutionary development conditions are very harsh.

3. Kauai Cave Wolf Spider (Blind Wolf Spider)

The Kauai Cave Wolf Spider was first discovered in 1971. Scientists found about 20 of these wolf spiders in five caves on Kauai Island in the Hawaiian Islands. It is estimated that the caves were formed between 3.6 million and 5.6 million years ago. Therefore, cave wolf spiders have adapted to the dark environment for a long time and evolved into their current blind form.

Long-term life in the dark has gradually degraded their vision, but their sense of touch has become extremely sensitive. When a predator enters the cave, they can sense every move of the predator through touch.

4. Madagascar blind snake (difficult to distinguish head and tail)

Among many blind snakes, the Madagascar blind snake is the most blind. This small snake is blind throughout its life cycle. It is about 25 cm long and as thick as a pencil. If they do not open their mouths or move, it is difficult for people to distinguish the direction of their head and tail.

Madagascar blind snakes and their relatives are extremely rare snakes that feed on insects. They rely on their highly developed sense of smell to find ant and termite nests to obtain food.

5. Mexican characin (transparent skin/no eyes)

Mexican characin is an animal that is born without eyes. It originated from the common characin that lives in the Saskatchewan River and Mexico State. It is a species that is not yet endangered. The body of the Mexican characin shows very obvious albino characteristics, with translucent skin and usually up to 10 cm in length.

They mainly live in underwater caves. They are not picky about food. Any object that falls into the cave can become their food, so they are also called "blind cave fish".

6. Blind Cave Lobster (the largest cave-loving creature)

Many of the top ten eyeless animals live in deep caves, and the blind cave lobster is one of them. In the United States, there are about 40 different species of cave shrimp distributed in various groundwater environments, most of which have completely degenerated eyes. These creatures are usually lighter in color and have extremely long lifespans, with some species even living up to 75 years.

The blind cave lobster is the largest cave creature among them, with a body length of up to 10 cm. They are regarded as "canaries in coal mines" because their living environment depends on filtered pure groundwater, and their physical condition often reflects changes in water quality.

7. Blind Cave Crab

Although it is called a blind cave crab, it is actually more like a squat lobster, mainly living in the entrance area where fresh water flows into the cave. The aquatic environment here provides a rich source of food for blind crabs.

Like many creatures that love dark environments, blind cave crabs usually live in flooded caves around the world, where there is no light and they are suitable for survival. They have evolved some adaptive characteristics, such as losing their eyesight and having relatively scarce body pigments. People can only occasionally spot them when using strong light.

8. Kentucky Cave Shrimp (Transparent/No Eyes)

Kentucky Cave Shrimp mainly inhabit the famous Mammoth Cave and other underground caves in Kentucky, USA. However, due to the serious impact of surface dams and rivers on the groundwater system of Mammoth Cave, this eyeless cave shrimp is facing the crisis of extinction.

Kentucky Cave Shrimp are transparent and can reach 3.15 cm in length. As a cave-loving creature without eye organs, they can adapt to the completely dark cave environment. Their living habits are similar to those of cave shrimp in Texas, Alabama and Florida.

9. Texas Blind Salamander

Texas Blind Salamanders are very similar to olms and are amphibians. They usually lay their eggs in water and feed on snails, amphipods and blind shrimps. Adult individuals can reach 12.7 cm in length, and their red gills can efficiently absorb oxygen from the water.

Their diet varies depending on the food resources available in their habitat. When hunting, blind salamanders will move their heads left and right to sense the weak fluctuations and vibrations produced by prey in the water, so as to accurately lock on to the target.

10. Golden Mole (No Vision/Excellent Hearing)

Most eyeless animals tend to give people a sense of mystery or even horror, but the golden mole is one of the cutest. Although its appearance is similar to that of an ordinary mole and its name also contains the word "mole", it is more closely related to the aardvark from a genetic point of view. However, the biggest difference from the aardvark is that it has no exposed eyes at all.

In fact, the golden mole is not born blind, but because its eyes are not fully developed and covered by thick skin, over time, its visual function has completely degenerated and it cannot rely on its eyes to perceive the surrounding environment. This unique species has been listed in the world's "most wanted lost species" by the American wildlife protection organization "Return to Nature".

The world's 10 most amazing eyeless animals are mainly recommended based on the rarity/popularity of the animals and comprehensive reference to relevant Internet rankings/lists. This time, only the relevant lists are reviewed for entertainment reference only. Comments and corrections are welcome at the end of the article!

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