Hungarian scientists accidentally created a new species of fish. A hybrid of Russian sturgeon and American paddlefish called Sturddlefish. “This is the first successful hybridization between these species,” the authors write in the journal Genes.
in fact, the plans of the ichthyologists of the Hungarian research Institute of fisheries and aquaculture was to investigate a rare form of asexual reproduction, the so-called ginogina. They tested the ability of reproduction of sturgeon asexually, since both of these species grow and reproduce slowly and therefore are under threat of extinction.
But the experiment took an unexpected turn.
To their surprise, the Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) and the American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) produced offspring with the genes of both parents. So there was a hybrid that was called Sturddlefish.
“the Survival rate in all groups of hybrid families ranged from 62% to 74% in 30 days after hatching fry,” say the authors.
Scientists do not yet know whether the hybrid offspring, and they do not plan to release them into the wild.
