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A pale, eyeless fish discovered beneath a former chemical weapons facility has been named after Stranger Things’ Demogorgon.
Stranger Things fans know the Demogorgon as a terrifying creature that stalks the dark tunnels of the Upside Down. Now, scientists have found its aquatic namesake lurking beneath an Alabama military base.
The newly identified Demon Cavefish was discovered inside Bobcat Cave at Redstone Arsenal, a US Army installation that produced chemical weapons during World War II.
Researchers named the creature Demogorgonichthys arcanus. The first part references the Demogorgon from mythology, Dungeons & Dragons and Netflix’s Stranger Things, while “ichthys” is Greek for fish. “Arcanus” means hidden or secret.
The fish certainly lived up to that name. Bobcat Cave has been closely monitored for around 40 years due to its population of endangered Alabama Cave Shrimp, yet the species remained undetected until February 2025.
University of Alabama at Huntsville
Demon Cavefish discovered after researcher slips in mud
University of Alabama in Huntsville researcher Matthew Niemiller encountered the fish during a routine survey after taking an accidental tumble in the cave’s largest chamber.
“I slipped in the mud at the back of the Shrimp Room and fell into a deeper pool,” Niemiller told Live Science. “During my graceful plummet, I disturbed a cavefish and crayfish underneath a rock ledge.”
Photos revealed the creature had a longer, flatter snout and a pronounced hump behind its head, distinguishing it from the Southern Cavefish already known to inhabit the cave.
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Further analysis confirmed it was not only a new species, but part of an entirely new lineage. Like something built for the Upside Down, it has no visible eyes or pigmentation and carries mutations that have disabled a gene responsible for detecting light.
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Scientists believe the fish lost its vision independently as it adapted to living in total darkness. There is no suggestion that Redstone Arsenal’s chemical weapons history created the species, although researchers found elevated trace metal levels inside the cave.
No more than around 20 Demon Cavefish have been observed at once, potentially making it one of the rarest fish species on Earth.
“For something new to show up in a place this well studied is rare,” Auburn University biologist Jonathan Armbruster said. “This was the right person, at the right time, able to notice that it was something different.”
Luckily, while the terrifying new fish was discovered, researchers didn’t find a secret entrance to the Upside Down with it.
