lautnusantara.com Recent research reveals a strange marine fish with crab-like legs, the northern sea robin (Prionotus carolinus). Instead of swimming, this fish often walks with its crab-like legs to forage for prey on the seabed. The sea robin's legs, which evolved from its pectoral fins, also function as taste organs, similar to a human tongue. Researchers have concluded that the changes in the fish's body organs are a form of adaptation to its environment.

You might be surprised to find a bird on the seafloor. This creature does exist and is perhaps the most unique, with a fish-like body, hands resembling bird wings, and crab-like legs.

The fish is called the northern sea robin or Prionotus carolinus. Scientists have identified that it is distributed in the shallow waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, from Nova Scotia in Canada to Florida in the United States.

According to research in the journal Current Biology, the sea robin's legs are not only used for walking but also function as sensory organs to locate prey buried in the seabed. This kind of unique adaptation helps the sea robin live on the seafloor. They often prefer to walk on the seafloor with their six "legs" rather than swim.

These legs are covered with taste bud-like structures. However, the legs did not evolve as a sensory structure. Scientists accidentally realized this after comparing them with 13 genomes of related species in the Triglidae, or gurnard family. It was discovered that the sea robin's legs evolved first, followed later by the ability to taste.

This was proven in a second Current Biology paper, where the team reported that a gene, when tampered with, removed the sea robin's ability to find its primary targets, from crustaceans to mollusks. The researchers also found high levels of taste-detecting proteins in the bumps on the fish's legs. For this reason, they also wanted to know if the fish's legs taste the same way as a human's taste organ, the tongue.

A Strange and Mysterious Fish

The northern sea robin is a strange fish with a large, spiny head, bright blue eyes, two giant wing-like fins, and six crab-like legs. For this reason, Kingsley and his colleagues decided to study this fish in the laboratory. They found many surprises, including the genetic differences between sea robin species and the unusual genetics of their leg-fins, which have evolved to serve as sensory tools.

It is these small legs that make the sea robin so unusual. Other sea creatures follow this fish because they are very good at finding and digging up food. But until now, scientists did not understand what made the sea robin such a skilled explorer.

"This is a fish that grows legs using genes that contribute to the development of our own limbs and then repurposes these legs to find prey using the same genes our tongues use to taste food. It's quite wild," said study author Nicholas Bellono, a professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University, as quoted by Livescience.

The scientists discovered another fact: the fish's skill at detecting and locating clams buried in the ground using the papillae that cover its legs. Papillae are small sensory structures, which in humans are found on the top surface of the tongue. The researchers found that the sea robin's papillae have taste receptors and neurons sensitive to touch, allowing the fish to use its legs to feel the ground.

Legs that Grew from Pectoral Fins

In the lab, researchers raised sea robins from embryos to observe the development of their legs. They found that the legs grew from the pectoral fins, separating from the other fins during development. The legs are controlled by different walking muscles at the base and are shaped like shovels to help the fish dig.

Although all sea robin species have legs, not all are adapted to digging and tasting, the research team said. "We were surprised to see how much one sea robin species differs from another in terms of the sensory structures found on the legs," said David Kingsley.

In nature, sea robins are divided into three subfamilies, eight genera, and 125 species. The three subfamilies of sea robins are Prionotinae, Pterygotriglinae, and Triglinae.

After numerous studies to uncover the mystery of this bird-like fish, researchers hypothesize that the legs of the northern sea robin's ancestors might have initially been used for movement. However, over time, the sensory function developed as part of evolution and adaptation to their environment.

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