It appears that extinct fish in the North Sea are still alive

It appears that the North Sea fish, an officially extinct species, is still alive and well. It swims off the coast of the Netherlands.

In 2008, the North Sea was declared extinct. But according to biologists from the University of Amsterdam, this type of fish still swims in the North Sea, and it is not even rare. They write this in a scientific article BMC ecology and evolution.

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Old fish

The Natural History Museum in London houses a number of North Sea logs that are over 250 years old in strong water. Linnaeus used a dried specimen dating back to 1754 to describe this species. Amsterdam researchers were able to extract small pieces of DNA from these ancient fish.

They then used that genetic material to create a family tree. What happened? All North Sea dwellings examined (Corgonus oxyrhynchus(He ended up in the same group as the great Persians)Corgonus oxyrhynchus), which is now simply swimming in the North Sea.

According to researchers, North Sea fish are not a separate species of animal. “The great mustang has been present in the Netherlands for some time, as well as in the North Sea,” explains lead researcher Rob Cross in a press release. Because we found no species difference between the North Sea nuclei species of the past and these North Sea nuclei species today, we do not consider the North Sea nuclei species to be extinct. Within species, there is only variation in migratory behaviour, as we also see with trout species, for example.

chaos

Why was a fish species declared extinct in 2008? According to Cross, there is often confusion about whether animals belong to one species or not. “In this case, biologists have long believed that the North Sea wrasse is a different species from the great harp due to the length of the snout and the number of gill spines. These characteristics do not lend themselves to saying that the North Sea wrasse is a different species from the ergæ. Our DNA research shows Now it’s actually the same type.”

However, the official name of the species has not yet changed. To do this, additional DNA testing would be needed on dried fish dating back to 1754. But that will be difficult. Kruse: “The DNA is old and damaged, but I think we should try. At the moment, the conservation status of various habitat species is a mess. According to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature, ed.), the North Sea wharf is extinct; At the same time, there are many Dutch and European laws of nature that state that both the North Sea game and the great mustang must be protected. In fact, we are currently protecting extinct species swimming around us.

sources: BMC ecology and evolution, UV

picture: Schmidt, F.G. Trans Wikimedia Commons