Hungarian scientists have accidentally created a new species of fish called sturddlefish in a lab by breeding two prehistoric endangered creatures, American paddlefish and Russian sturgeon which were not supposed to be able to create hybrid offspring.
They published their study in the journal Genes.
Sturgeons and paddlefish are among the largest, longest-living, slowest-growing freshwater fish on Earth. They are also among the most endangered. The paddlefish is the only such species that remains in existence after a Chinese species was declared extinct, and sturgeon are “more critically endangered than any other group of species,” according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Habitat loss, overfishing and pollution have taken a heavy toll on paddlefish and sturgeon over the last century.
The sturddlefish created in Hungary exhibited traits from both species.
Researchers said the resulting fish are infertile, like many hybrid species, and they have no plans to produce anymore – but the survivors could live for over 100 years. There are about 100 of the hybrids in captivity now.
