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Karibia clingfish:
kecil, ulet dan beracun tentatif
Caribbean
clingfish: Tiny, tenacious and tentatively toxic
Date:
May 14, 2014
Source:
Texas A&M AgriLife
Communications
Summary:
Sometimes we think we know everything about something
only to find out we really don't, said a biologist studying tiny fish. Scientists
comparing a new clingfish to known ones discovered a new species, and made an
important finding about a group of well-studied fish at the same time. They
discovered a venom gland that had been missed until now.
..................
Sometimes we think we know everything about something only
to find out we really don't, said a Texas A&M University scientist.
Dr. Kevin
Conway, assistant professor and curator of fishes with Texas A&M's
department of wildlife and fisheries sciences at College Station, has published
a paper documenting a new species of clingfish and a startling new discovery in
a second well-documented clingfish.
The paper,
entitled "Cryptic Diversity and Venom Glands in Western Atlantic
Clingfishes of the Genus Acyrtus (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae)," was
published May 13 in the PLOS ONE online journal.
The
scientific paper documents the study Conway and his team, including Dr. Carole
Baldwin, his collaborator at the Smithsonian Institution, and Macaulay White,
former Texas A&M undergraduate, have been working on for several years.
"We are
excited about the study, because it resulted in not only the discovery of an
undescribed species, but also the discovery of a unique venom gland in a group
of fishes nobody knew were venomous," Conway said. "New groups of
venomous fishes are not discovered very often, in fact the last such discovery
happened back in the 1960s. The shocking thing is that the fishes that possess
the venom gland have been known to science for a long time, some for over 260
years, and have been pretty well studied."
Conway said
clingfishes are globally distributed at temperate and tropical latitudes, and
get their name from their ability to anchor themselves using their large belly
sucker. The species Conway and his team discovered is a tiny marine fish less
than an inch long that lives between pieces of coral rubble in very shallow
water along the coast of Belize and islands in the Caribbean and Bahamas.
"Our
work shows that even in relatively well-studied areas of the world's oceans,
new species can be discovered as can unknown traits in well-documented
species." Conway said.
Conway
explained that in order to describe a new species, taxonomists have to make
comparisons with other closely related species to ensure they are not
"rediscovering" something already described by another researcher.
"During
that comparison process we discovered that several species of Caribbean
clingfishes, but not the new one we found, have a strange gland associated with
a very sharp and spine-like subopercular bone, one of four bones that support
the gill covers in fishes," Conway said. "The cells inside the gland
are incredibly similar to those present inside the venom glands of scorpion
fishes and certain catfish and based on this similarity, we are confident that
these clingfishes are also producing some type of toxin."
"Discovering
a venom gland in a group of well-studied fishes that has been known to science,
some for well over two centuries, is truly remarkable," Conway said.
Conway
explained that most of the world's 2,000-plus venomous species of fishes
deliver their venom using a modified fin ray, sharp opercular spine or even
through a large fang in their lower jaw. But the venom gland they discovered in
the Caribbean clingfishes associated with the subopercular gill cover bone is
the first of its kind to be discovered and in fact, is unique among all
venomous fish described to-date.
"We do
not know exactly what the venom is used for, but based on the position of the
venom gland, it is more likely that it would be used for protection, as in most
venomous fishes.
"We
don't yet have any information about the toxic properties of these clingfishes,
but we hope that our discovery will encourage other scientists to take a look
at the venom gland we discovered in more detail," he said.
Conway said
clingfishes are referred to as crypto-benthic fishes which means "small,
bottom dwellers."
"Crypto-benthic
fishes are not commercially important, but are considered by the scientific
community to play an important role in marine ecosystems, because they are
likely an important food resource for larger fishes," Conway noted.
Story
Source:
The above
story is based on materials provided by Texas A&M AgriLife Communications. The original
article was written by Steve Byrns. Note: Materials may be edited for
content and length.
Journal
Reference:
- Kevin W. Conway, Carole Baldwin, Macaulay D. White. Cryptic Diversity and Venom Glands in Western Atlantic Clingfishes of the Genus Acyrtus (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae). PLoS ONE, 2014; 9 (5): e97664 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097664
Cite This
Page:
Texas A&M AgriLife
Communications. "Caribbean clingfish: Tiny, tenacious and tentatively
toxic." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 May 2014.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140514100316.htm>.
