An amazing and unusual fish!

The Gollum snakehead was first discovered in 2019 in Kerala in South India. This fish has a long, scaly body and veil-like fins. It may be a “living fossil” – this family of fish may have evolved around 109 million years ago, at a time when dinosaurs still roamed the world.

Snakeheads are a group of predatory freshwater fish found in Africa and Asia. The Gollum snakehead is a small fish – it is about 4 inches (10 cm) long. The Gollum snakehead lives underground in aquifers (where water is stored in underground rocks and sediments). This new fish was named after the character Gollum from The Lord of the Rings by author J. R. R. Tolkien.

Read more about the discovery of the Gollum snakehead on Mongabay India:

https://india.mongabay.com/2020/10/a-brand-new-family-of-bony-fishes-from-south-india/

https://india.mongabay.com/2019/05/gollum-surfaces-in-india-scientists-document-the-first-underground-snakehead-fish/