This northern sea robin, Prionotus carolinus, is probably the most fascinating fish in the ocean. Rather than using its six limb-like appendages to walk along the ocean bed like traditional fish, it uses these appendages to swim as well as move, sweeping over the bed of the sea to search out food. While this adaptation has been known for quite some time to scientists, another bizarre use case of a leg was just discovered.
Sensory Functions of Sea Robins
Recently, research showed how these lobes function as sensory structures. Scientists discovered that the northern sea robin is a fish that can locate concealed prey by chemical alarm cues that have been dispersed in the water. Therefore, the fish digs up food burrows deep within water with the help of shovel-like shape of its feet while combining mobility with sensory search.
Collaboration and Results of Research
A new collaborative research study, involving the developmental biologist David Kingsley from Stanford University and molecular biologist Nicholas Bellono from Harvard University, sheds light into the sensory adaptations found in the sea robin. The paper appears in Current Biology. The researchers have designed experiments to put fish in environments where mussels are buried and where they have amino-acid capsules. The results were then tested and verified to demonstrate the ability of the fish to effectively find and recover such buried objects using, in this case, specialized bumps along its legs, termed papillae, that contain taste receptors.
Evolutionary Views on Adaptation
An interesting story is told by the evolutionary background of the northern sea robin. Analysis of the evolution through different species of sea robins supported that legs developed primarily for locomotion with secondary sensory functions. Those scientists decided that the formation of the legs was very important and is managed by the tbx3a gene; they demonstrated using the CRISPR technique that mutations in this gene might affect not only the formation process but also sensory functions.
Conclusion: Implications of the Research
The results of this research merely open up a deeper source of information regarding the northern sea robin but also impart more general knowledge on adaptation patterns in species over time. Deep analysis into genetic and evolutionary steps that led to such special adaptations could allow scientists to gain better insight into the complexity of life in the ocean as well as into the process of evolution forming this life.
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