中文导读

中国西南的石灰岩山区有大量尚未被充分考察的洞穴。研究人员在云南省玉溪市红塔区一处海拔2062米的洞穴里，发现了一种体型微小的淡水螺新物种 Erhaia dijiang。它是真正的洞穴动物：眼睛完全退化，外壳呈圆锥形、几乎透明，身体没有色素。种名 dijiang 取自《山海经》中“无面目”的山神帝江，与这种螺对光极其敏感的习性相呼应。论文作者称，这是中国发现的第一种淡水洞穴螺，也是洱海螺科洞穴种类中已知分布海拔最高的一种。不过，2025年8月的首次野外考察只找到三只活的成年个体和一个空壳，没有发现幼体，研究者因此呼吁扩大洞穴调查并尽快制定保护措施。论文于2026年5月发表在《Subterranean Biology》期刊上，ScienceDaily 于10月20日转发了出版方的报道。文章按“发现—特征与证据—担忧”展开，阅读时可留意 because、However、This suggests 如何连接原因、转折和推断。

正文

In a cave high in the mountains of Yunnan Province in southwest China, scientists have found a tiny snail that lives in total darkness. It has no eyes at all. The new species, named Erhaia dijiang, was described in the journal Subterranean Biology, and the discovery was reported by ScienceDaily on October 20. Researchers say it is the first freshwater cave snail ever recorded in China.

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在中国西南部云南省的高山中，科学家在一个洞穴里发现了一种生活在完全黑暗中的微小螺类。它完全没有眼睛。这个新物种被命名为 Erhaia dijiang，相关描述发表在《地下生物学》（Subterranean Biology）期刊上，ScienceDaily 于10月20日对这一发现进行了报道。研究人员表示，这是中国有记录以来的第一种淡水洞穴螺。

Life without light has shaped its body. As a true cave animal, the snail has completely lost its eyes, and the parts normally used for seeing have broken down. It also has a cone-shaped shell that is almost transparent, a soft body with no color, and long, thin tentacles.

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没有光的生活塑造了它的身体。作为真正的洞穴动物，这种螺已经完全失去了眼睛，原本用于视觉的结构也已经退化。它还有一个几乎透明的圆锥形外壳、一个没有颜色的柔软身体，以及细长的触角。

Its name comes from an ancient Chinese book, the Classic of Mountains and Seas. In the book, Di Jiang is a mountain god shown as a beast with no face. The name fits well, because the snail is extremely sensitive to light. In the laboratory, whenever the snails were exposed to light, they quickly moved back into the dark spaces under rocks.

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它的名字来自中国古代典籍《山海经》。在书中，帝江是一位被描绘成没有面孔的野兽形象的山神。这个名字很贴切，因为这种螺对光极其敏感。在实验室里，每当这些螺暴露在光线下，它们都会迅速退回到岩石下面的黑暗空间中。

The place where they live is also unusual. The cave, in Yuxi City, is 2,062 meters above sea level. That is the highest place where any cave snail in its family, Erhaiidae, has been found. Inside, they live among small stones in water less than one meter deep, where the temperature stays close to 20°C.

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它们生活的地方同样不寻常。这个位于玉溪市的洞穴海拔2062米。这是其所属的洱海螺科（Erhaiidae）洞穴螺类中有记录的最高分布地点。在洞穴里，它们生活在水深不足一米的小石块之间，那里的水温保持在20摄氏度左右。

The snails seem to stay close to home. Heavy rain sometimes pushes more water through the cave and washes a few of them out, but none have been seen in nearby streams. They remain within two meters of the cave entrance. In the lab, the researchers also learned what they eat: diatoms, very small algae that grow on rock surfaces, as well as fish food the team gave them.

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这些螺似乎不会离开自己的家园太远。大雨有时会使更多的水流过洞穴，把少数螺冲出洞外，但在附近的溪流中从未发现过它们。它们一直待在距离洞口两米的范围内。在实验室里，研究人员还了解到它们吃什么：硅藻（一种生长在岩石表面的微小藻类），以及研究团队投喂的鱼食。

However, the exciting discovery comes with a serious worry. During the first field trip in August 2025, the team searched the shallow water but found only three living adults and one empty shell. They saw no young snails. This suggests that the known population is extremely small, and the scientists describe the species’ future as “far from optimistic.”

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然而，这一令人兴奋的发现也伴随着一个严重的担忧。在2025年8月的第一次野外考察中，研究团队搜寻了浅水区域，却只找到三只活的成年个体和一个空壳。他们没有看到任何幼螺。这表明目前已知的种群数量极少，科学家们形容这个物种的前景“远不乐观”。

Because the snail lives in such a limited space, it could face serious threats before people even understand it. The team is calling for wider studies of caves across China to find other hidden species, and for protection plans to be made quickly. Until now, underground freshwater snails in China had received little attention from scientists.

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由于这种螺生活的空间如此有限，它可能在人们真正了解它之前就面临严重威胁。研究团队呼吁在中国各地对洞穴开展更广泛的研究，以发现其他隐藏的物种，并尽快制定保护计划。此前，中国的地下淡水螺类很少受到科学家的关注。

新闻来源

• ScienceDaily (Pensoft Publishers) · Scientists discover ghostly, eyeless creature hidden in Chinese cave (20 Oct 2026)
• Subterranean Biology · A new eyeless species in Erhaiidae (Gastropoda, Truncatelloidea) from a cave in Yuxi City, Yunnan, China (29 May 2026)

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