China.. The Discovery Of An Unprecedented Unicorn Fish
Researchers in China have found a strange species of blind cave fish with a mysterious horn-like organ protruding from its head and being colorless.
According to “viva.co.id” website, the unicorn fish of the “Synocycloceles” species was discovered inside a cave in the mountainous province of Guizhou.
This discovery was published in the scientific journal ZooKeys, and scientists confirmed that there are 76 known species of these fish species.
Dr. Jiang Zhou and colleagues from Guizhou Normal University reported that the newly discovered strange fish had no scales or colors, small primitive eyes that likely couldn't see anything, and an unusually large horn sticking out from its forehead.
On the other hand, some species of "Sinocycloceles" fish have small horns at the back of their head, but the function of the horns is still a mystery to scientists.
The scientists said: “The genus of fish, Cynocycloceles, takes its home in the dark waters of Chinese caves, and it is distributed mainly in the waters of karst caves in southwest China, including the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Hubei.”
This newly discovered horned fish is distinguished by its oval shape, lack of scales, and small eyes. In addition, on the back of its head is a horn that has a single, relatively long structure.
These types of fish have small horns
Through the research conducted, the researchers found that the evolution of the horn can occur in at least two independent pathways. In addition, altered eye phenotypes have also been found in another species of fish, Sinocyclocheilus bicornuate.
It was expected that the small eyes occurred during evolution or were the result of an increased or decreased food source during development, in addition to genetic mutations.
Source : websites