Hidden outside the sun, the cave has always maintained a sense of mystery, in fact, this underground world is equally wonderful, and the creatures have evolved diverse and unique adaptive characteristics in their paradise in their unknowable way of living.
On August 21, a team from the Chengdu Huaxi Entomological Museum entered a huge undeveloped cave several kilometers deep in Longmen Mountain, Sichuan Province, and conducted a scientific expedition of cave biology. It has been four years since the June 2014 expedition. During this expedition, not only did we take rare courtship photos of cave hook shrimp in China, but a large number of cave creatures were also captured by the camera.
This spider does not have a web
Dig out "scattered pits" and "ambush" to hunt
In the cave for generations of cave dwelling, the spiders here have also developed a skill, compared with their peers in the outside world, they have entered the era of "wireless network", "the spiders in the cave do not weave webs, hunting insects are more direct." Zhao Li, director of the Huaxi Insect Museum, told the Chengdu Business Daily reporter that the spiders in the cave dug out small circular holes in the soft calcareous sediments of the cave wall and ambushed them, waiting for the opportunity to catch small creatures such as Ma Lu passing by.
In addition to spiders, there are occasional moths on the cave walls that do not respond to light. Zhao Li said that among these moths, in addition to the ruler moths and nocturnal moths that are often found in other cave scientific expeditions, the expedition also photographed the rare moths of the borer family in the caves. "They move near bat droppings that grow fungal species, and their larvae feed on fungi." Zhao Li speculated.
"Arched back" of "blind eyes"
The deeper the hole, the lighter the color, the longer the antennae
During this expedition, the expedition team found that in addition to the large number of burrowing bats such as the Martei-headed Bat, the cave was more abundant. The team members entered the cave for tens of meters, and on the four walls of the cave, they saw three or three or two or two orthoptera insects, and the Zebra horse commonly known as the "archback" in Sichuan was active here.
Although this kind of cave spotted stove horse looks not much different from the species outside the cave, Zhao Li found that they have no visual function, and they have no response to the irradiation of the hand electricity, which is completely different from the similar species that only move outside the cave at night and immediately avoid the light as soon as they see it. The deeper you go into the hole, the lighter the color of these zebra horses, and the antennae gradually lengthen. After entering the cave for two or three hundred meters, their color has changed from dark brown near the mouth of the cave to light brown, and the antennae have increased from about 6 times the length of the body to nearly 10 times. Apparently, the structure of their bodies has gradually changed to adapt to environments ranging from low light to complete darkness.
This malu is like glass
The preliminary judgment is that it is a completely new species
Zhao Li said that in the depths of the cave, some new species that are very different from the outside of the cave have emerged, and after hundreds of meters of depth, the expedition team found a transparent malu at the bottom of the cave that is completely different from the brownish red or black brown similar to the outside of the cave. "This is a typical cave creature, and the initial judgment is that it is a completely new species." Zhao Li introduced that this malu body is colorless and transparent, as if it is a work of art made of glass, and only a black digestive tract can be seen in the center of the body. Zhao Li speculated that because there were no photosynthetic plants in the cave, the source of the organism's organic matter could only rely on the organic matter carried by the surface water to enter the cave or the feces pulled out by bats inside and outside the cave. As for the reason why its body has no color, there is no light to stimulate it to produce pigment cells, so in the long process of evolution, their color gradually disappeared.
Two small shrimp "playing friends"
Rare cave hook shrimp courtship photos were taken
The most valuable photograph of this expedition is the scene of the courtship of the cave hook shrimp. In the puddles where cave hook shrimp was previously found, the expedition team found that cave hook shrimp still live in it. While observing, the expedition accidentally found several pairs of cave hook shrimp courting — this small white transparent animal swam sideways quickly and irregularly in a narrow puddle, and when the male and female met, they quickly "entangled" together.
Zhao Li said that hook shrimp belong to the endpod hook shrimp family, distributed all over the world, most species of marine life, there are also some freshwater species, and shrimp and crabs are a class of crustaceans. They originally lived outside the cave, and after being carried into the ground by the current, they could not leave, so they lived in this small puddle for generations. Over the course of its long evolution, like Malu, it lost its ability to produce pigment cells and became a transparent species. This cave hook shrimp is only about a centimeter long, which is very different from the shape of our common shrimp, without a fan-shaped tail and long antennae, no pigment in the body, almost transparent, not even eyes, looking like an alien creature in a science fiction movie. "Their eyes, which cannot be found under the microscope, have been completely degenerated."
They do not swim on their backs like most aquatic animals, and most of the time they move sideways in cave puddles. There were no previous reports of how they courted inside caves. Due to the hook shrimp swimming rapidly in the water, the photos taken this time are not very clear, but they are still precious.
Experts: The cave ecology is fragile Do not announce the specific location of the inspection site
Caves are isolated from the rest of the world, and it is almost impossible to connect the creatures deep in the caves with the creatures outside the caves and between the caves, so the cave species are very unique. Zhao Li said that in the caves in the world that have conducted biological scientific research, almost an average of one hole can find a new species, "one kind of mountain, one kind of hole" is usual.
Invertebrates such as insects in the underground cave system in the Chengdu area have rarely been studied in the past, so in addition to the hook shrimp and ruler moth species found in the last expedition, the newly discovered species such as transparent malu are most likely completely new species. The expedition team has taken samples of invertebrates such as insects and water found in the cave, preparing to further study the life of cave creatures.
Zhao Li particularly emphasized that the cave ecosystem is relatively closed, and there are very few species in it, and because the type and quantity of food are very poor, most of them grow slowly, the number of reproduction is small, the ecological balance is very fragile, and the minimal external interference will change the stable environment in the cave, so that the organisms that have adapted to the cave environment for a long time face the disaster. The creatures in a cave are often unique, that is, they only exist in a certain cave, and once extinct, there will be no replacement.
Zhao Li said that the specific location of the inspection site will not be announced, because the cave is still in a pristine state, and once the curious explorers enter the sightseeing in large numbers, the cave creatures found this time may be completely extinct in a few years.
Zhao Li said that caves are far from our daily lives, and people's impressions of caves are often dark, damp, silent and mysterious. Cave expeditions, on the other hand, explore a completely dark, unknown environment, which is a huge challenge to human nature of fear of darkness. During this inspection, CCTV's ten sets of "Geography China" column group also filmed the whole process of the inspection process. According to the relevant person in charge of the filming team, the whole process will be made into a documentary, which is expected to be broadcast at the end of this year or early next year. Before that, the column group also came to Chengdu many times to shoot, where the rich animal and plant resources frequently "dominate the screen" in the popular science column.
Chengdu Business Daily reporter Eun Xiaohuai
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