Recently, a scientific research team discovered a "strange fish" in the deep sea off Hachijo Island, Japan. Its surface is black and purple, its mouth is astonishingly large, and its body length is more than 2 meters. It swims in the dark deep sea and looks very strange.
A new species was discovered in the deep sea of Japan, and it looks very strange
It is reported that this "strange fish" belongs to a newly discovered species last year - Yokozuna sardine. Although its name has the words " sardine ", it But there is no similarity with the familiar sardines. However, through research, scientists believe that it belongs to the "Big Mac" among deep-sea sardines, so they named it after this.
Judging from the time, researchers first discovered its existence in Suruga Bay, Shizuoka Prefecture . Because of its huge size and fierce temperament, the yokozuna sardine is also at the top of the deep-sea food chain.
After that, researchers successively discovered its figure in other deep seas in Japan. The final study concluded that although only 6 yokozuna sardines have been found so far, it is most likely to be widely distributed in the North Pacific In the deep sea. It is possible that their main habitat is 2,000 meters deeper than the sea level, because these six horizontal sardines were all found about 2,000 meters away from the sea surface.
After the Japanese media reported this incident, people were also curious, why do Yokohama sardines look so special? Because in previous studies, the average body length of deep-sea sardines was only about 0.3 meters. What is the concept? To put it simply, it is less than a fraction of the length of an adult yokozuna sardine.
Therefore, considering that there have been nuclear leaks in Japanese waters before, many people are worried that the Yokozuna Sardines are not a new species, but a mutated known animal? If this is really the case, does it mean that a nuclear leak will cause all marine life to look like "giant monsters"?
So, is it true that Yokozuna Sardines are not genetic mutations?
In nature, many organisms may experience "gene mutations" during their embryonic development and even during their evolution. However, this type of genetic mutation is mainly concentrated during embryonic development. To put it simply, it is some bad The recessive gene suddenly turned into the dominant gene and , causing the mutated creature to look strange. Compared with its own kind, it seemed to be two species.
For example, "multi-clawed fish" have been caught many times in Japanese waters before. For example, in 2020, a fisherman from Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, caught a "9 "foot octopus", because the sea area caught was very close to the sea area where the Fukushima nuclear leak occurred. Therefore, Japanese experts suggested at the time that Japanese fishermen should be more careful. If they catch strange-looking creatures, do not eat them casually, for fear of Genetic mutations caused by nuclear radiation.
However, due to the natural evolution of organisms, mutations may occur due to genetic defects without pollution. Therefore, in fact, sometimes even if weird-looking animals are found, it does not mean that Yes, they were caused by nuclear radiation contamination.
However, because the incident occurred in Japanese waters, and Japan once had a nuclear leakage accident that shocked the world, this gave people the idea that "the strange fish discovered in Japan are mutant animals caused by the nuclear leakage" .
Therefore, although the appearance of the yokozuna sardine, which was only discovered last year, is very strange, it is not enough to prove that it is a mutated animal, because science is also very strict about the mutation of known species and the determination of new species. For example, after scientists first discovered the yokozuna sardine, they collected its DNA sample and compared it with known biological libraries, and finally confirmed that it was not a mutated organism, but a completely new species. .
Therefore, the growth of Yokozuna Sardines like this is 100% natural growth. After all, the world is so big, there are all kinds of strange things, and the creatures in nature are full of strange things, especially in the deep sea where the environment is extremely harsh, many species They have incredible looks, so it’s not surprising that Yokohama sardines have such “honor”.
So, why do the creatures in the deep sea look so strange?
Speaking of which, this is mainly caused by the harsh environment in the deep sea. Research has found that the deep sea below 1,000 meters above sea level is an extreme environment of low temperature, anoxia, high pressure, and no light. In short, the deep sea is actually not suitable for survival. However, there are still a large number of people gathered here. species.
In extreme environments, the appearance of these deep-sea species becomes unimportant. After all, in harsh environments, how to survive in cruel and extreme competition is the most important thing, and the deep sea is originally dark and lightless. , most creatures have been in darkness for a long time, and there is no need to look too beautiful at all. Naturally, deep-sea species have begun to "grow casually", and generally look like "freaks".
