The bizarre genomes of domesticated fish

Image of a goldfish with odd under-eye bubbles.

Enlarge (credit score: Jordan Hartig)

People have domesticated numerous animals over their historical past, some for meals, some as companions and protectors. A couple of species—assume animals like rabbits and guinea pigs—have partly shifted between these two classes, at present serving as each meals and pets. However one species has left its previous as a meals supply behind totally. And, in one other rarity, it ended up serving not a lot as a companion however as a ornament.

We’re speaking goldfish right here, and we have now gotten a have a look at their genome. And it is virtually as bizarre because the fish themselves are.

A effective kettle of fish

It is value stopping for a second to contemplate simply how bizarre they’re inside the realm of domestication. They began out simply as barely coloured variants of a carp that’s in any other case used totally for aquaculture. We have fully eliminated them from the meals chain and turned them into pets, however they don’t seem to be the kind of pets that we work together with like a canine or cat, or perhaps a guinea pig. Largely, they simply sit there and look ornamental. And within the course of of constructing them much more ornamental, we have bred numerous varieties which can be far much less purposeful as fish.

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