Before you scream “Eww!” and scroll on, give this little critter a chance to be presented! Because you are most likely never to encounter one in your life, Germanism in the English language or not. Let me introduce you to the olm (pronounce with an “o” as in odd). Etymologically, it is totally unclear what the word means or whence it came. Let’s simply imagine that Josip Jeršinovič Knight von Löwengreif, who found the first one in a cave in Slovenia, said, “Olm!” Maybe similar as in OMG, only that Olm is easier to pronounce as a word …
But seriously, these often skin colored guys (also nicknamed human fish therefore) get up to 12 inches long and live in underwater karst (i.e. chalky) caves on the Eastern side of the Adriatic Sea, which is part of the Mediterranean Sea. The only olms known in Germany live in the Hermann’s Cave near Wernigerode. There are similar olms in Texas, and you also may have heard of the Mexican Axolotl. If olms are exposed to light, their pigmentation will change to darker hues.
As the living space in caves is dark, the endangered species needs no eyesight. But olms’ hearing and smelling are excellently developed. The creatures recognize their home by fragrance. That is important, because they may leave it to find food above ground, even such as nightcrawlers. Indeed, olms have tiny limbs which enable them to walk on dry land as other amphibia. Their breathing is regulated by outer gills. But they can also live without any oxygen for around 12 hours. (Thank you, Wikipedia!)
I used to own an animal dictionary. One of the first entries was the Axolotl. I always liked it because the photo was kind of pretty. The white face had those little red trees where people’s ears or the European olms’ gills would sit. And it wore a smile as if for the photographer. But olms always smile. They must know it’s the best way to win people over. Smile, and the world smiles back. And even the least attractive being looks nicer when it smiles.
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