By some estimates, humans have only explored 5% of the ocean’s floor which means that 95% of the ocean remains an enigma. In that 95%, there are many animals that have previously never been observed. Scientists have managed to create a hybrid of two species to create an animal never before observed.
The Russian Sturgeon and American Paddlefish are both critically endangered species. In an effort to increase the populations of these two species, scientists in Hungary at the Research Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture tried to breed the species in captivity which is a proven method of increasing the population of some endangered species.
The scientists used gynogenesis to try and breed these species in captivity. Gynogenesis is a method of asexual reproduction which requires sperm, but the process does not need the DNA from sperm to complete the fertilization of an egg. Through complete chance, researchers accidentally fertilized Russian Sturgeon eggs with sperm from an American Paddlefish. To the researchers’ surprise, the hybridization of the Sturgeon egg and Paddlefish sperm worked.
The hybrid fish that hatched from the eggs, aptly nicknamed struddlefish, had interesting characteristics. Depending on the proportion of maternal and paternal DNA, which does not necessarily have to be equal through the process of gynogenesis, in the hybrid, the hybrid will have characteristics closer to a Sturgeon, Paddlefish, or a mix of both. The hybrids are sterile and are unable to reproduce which means that the Struddlefish population is unable to increase in the wild.
While the researchers had not intended to experiment with hybridization, their discovery may yield many findings especially with regards to the evolution of these species. Both the Sturgeon and Paddlefish are seen as “living fossils” because they have not substantially evolved in millions of years. While the hybrid was not intentional, the impacts it may have understanding the Sturgeon and Paddlefish may be instrumental in preventing their extinction.
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