Anjanamba is the name of a cave in South-Western Madagascar, Atsimo-Andrefana region, in the Mikea Forest. It is a fully submerged cave system that has been explored to more than 10km (in 2019) using cave diving techniques. It is the longest underwater cave of Africa.[1]

The cave was first described by Jean-Noël Salomon in 1987 in his PHD Thesis, as a vertical shaft giving access to the water table. He reports the name Ampanonga.[2]

In 2016, Ryan Dart (Madagascar Cave Diving Association) and Phillip Lehman (Dominican Republic Speleological Society) rediscovered the entrance and started the underwater explorations. Gathering a team of cave divers, 4 expeditions have been conducted in the cave and more than 10km of flooded passages have been explored and mapped.[1]

Three short films have been produced on the explorations, titled Spirits of the Cave.[3]

The cave hosts cavefish[2] of the genus Typhleotris[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "Tekdive USA.2020 - Anjanamba Africas longest submerged cave of Africa".
  2. ^ a b Salomon, Jean-Noël (1986-01-02). Le Sud-Ouest de Madagascar (PhD Thesis thesis) (in French). Université d'Aix-Marseille 2.
  3. ^ Lehman, Phillip (2017). Spirits of the Cave (video). DRSS.
  4. ^ FishBase team RMCA & Sparks, J.S. 2016. Typhleotris pauliani. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22596A58303542. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22596A58303542.en.


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