New Delhi: Fishes cannot walk on legs, isn’t it? At least that is what we, the common people know. Rather, fishes have no legs at all and they swim from one place to another. But no, that is not the case always. There are some fishes which have legs. According to new research, there are some types of sea robins, fish that reside at the bottom of the ocean which have legs covered in taste buds that they use to sense and dig up prey along the seafloor. In this article, we will learn about this mysterious fish.
Do sea robins have legs? What are they used for?
According to two new studies published in the journal Current Biology, sea robins root out prey as they walk along the ocean floor on their six leglike appendages. Moreover, they are followed by other fish who hope to snatch some freshly uncovered prey themselves. The research, which has been published in two papers, could enable us to understand the trait development across species, including humans.
While most sea robins use their legs only to walk, an ancient gene important for the formation of limbs in humans and other animals, as well as a gene involved in building taste buds, helped a few species of sea robins form legs that taste. A co-author of both studies, David Kingsley first found out about the fish in 2016 after giving a seminar at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole in Massachusetts.
While speaking to CNN, Kingsley said that he was surprised by sea robins the first time he saw them because they had the body of a fish, the wings of a bird and multiple legs like a crab. In the research, Kingsley and his collaborators have said that sea robins use their leg-like appendages to navigate the floor of the ocean and alternate between swimming and walking. They can move each leg individually and it is different from other fish species that use fins to walk or perch.
According to the research, the sea robins grow their legs using the same genes that played a key role in the development of limbs of humans. The research could help shed light on how, some six million years ago, humans evolved to walk upright. Nicholas Bellono, a molecular and cellular biologist at Harvard University who co-authored the studies, reportedly said that some sea robins grew legs using the same genes that led to the development of human limbs and then repurposed these legs to find prey using the same genes our tongues use to taste food.
According to new research, there are some types of sea robins, fish that reside at the bottom of the ocean which have legs covered in taste buds that they use to sense and dig up prey along the seafloor. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
