Sometimes weird things happen, and this was one of those times. Scientists were attempting to breed the endangered Russian Sturgeons in their lab in Hungary. Completely by accident, they bred a new kind of fish with another endangered species. (1)
The Sturddlefish: The New Kind of Fish Accidently Created In The Lab
The sturddlefish is a new kind of fish resulting from researchers unintentionally breeding the endangered Russian Sturgeon with the also endangered American Paddlefish. They did this while attempting to breed more Russian sturgeons using a method called gynogenesis. This method is a type of asexual reproduction that, while it does require sperm, does not leave any trace of its own DNA behind. This means that the offspring have 100% maternal DNA and 0% paternal. (2)
Their experiment, however, went a bit sideways when they accidentally bred the sturgeon with the American Paddlefish. The sperm and eggs from each fish ended up hundreds of this new type of fish. (2)
“We never wanted to play around with hybridization. It was absolutely unintentional,” said Attila Mozsár, senior researcher at the Research Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture in Hungary. (2)
Read: Scuba diver comes face to face with a seven-meter long anaconda underwater
How The Sturddlefish Was Created
The team used sperm from the paddlefish to fertilize the eggs of the sturgeon and start the gynogenesis process. They thought that it would simply start the process, and then as gynogenesis works, only the maternal DNA would be left behind. Instead, the sperm and egg fused to create this new kind of fish. (1) However, each fish is not the same – they are not all 50% sturgeon and 50% paddlefish. Some of them are more closely related to the sturgeon, others to the paddlefish – it just depends. (1)
Not Going To Be A Continuing Experiment
The researchers say that while the offspring were numbered in the hundreds, there are only approximately 100 still alive. This is fairly normal, the researchers said. The survival rate of this hybrid fish ranged from 62 to 74 percent. This is the first time that the two fish have been successfully bred together. (1) Despite this, the team says they have no intentions of continuing to breed these two species together. (2)
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Sources:
- “IHybridization of Russian Sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, Brandt and Ratzeberg, 1833) and American Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula, Walbaum 1792) and Evaluation of Their Progeny.” MDPI. Jenő Káldy et al.
- “Scientists Accidentally Bred the Fish Version of a Liger.” NY Times. Annie Roth. July 15, 2020.