Hidden BRITAIN

NICK BAKER Reveals a fascinating world of wildlife that we often overlook.

- NICK BAKER

Every now and again, a strange eyeless creature – pale, delicate and glassy – turns up in a washing-up bowl or kettle. This frail thing has come from a world so close but so far removed from the one dominated by the dance of the Earth around the sun that we are familiar with. Where this creature originates, light doesn’t figure at all.

At a maximum length of 3mm, the British cave shrimp (Niphargus glenniei) is at first glance underwhelming, but is actually rather special. It is one of just a handful of truly endemic creatures found in the UK. And it comes out of taps. Well, in all fairness, this only happens to those whose private water supplies are connected to bore holes in the counties of Devon and Cornwall.