这些鱼可以在交配时创造新物种

这些鱼可以在交配时创造新物种

An unusual type of fish has the ability to produce entirely new species when it mates.

一种不同寻常的鱼能在交配时产生全新的物种。

Cichlids, a colorful fish typically found in the freshwater lakes of Africa, can sometimes have sex with the wrong partner.

慈鲷是一种生活在非洲淡水湖的彩色鱼类，它有时会与错误的伴侣发生性行为。

According to a new 10-year study on two African freshwater lakes published in Nature Communications, the females accidentally could introduce new genes into their population.

根据发表在《自然通讯》(Nature Communications)杂志上的一项针对非洲两个淡水湖进行的为期10年的新研究，雌鱼可能会意外地将新的基因引入它们的种群。

“This could have been because when the lake formed, the water was very cloudy and they couldn’t see colors properly so the females were not being as choosy about selecting a mate in their new environment,” evolutionary biologist Joana Meier, from the University of Cambridge, said in a statement.

剑桥大学进化生物学家琼娜·迈耶在一份声明中说:“这可能是因为当湖泊形成时，湖水很浑浊，它们看不清颜色，所以雌性在新环境中对择偶没有那么挑剔。”

The scientists, led by Meier, said they discovered more than 40 new cichlid species over the course of the study in Lake Mweru, on the longest arm of the Congo River.

迈耶领导的科学家们说，他们在刚果河最长的支流姆维鲁湖研究期间发现了40多种新的慈鲷。

“Mating between cichlids from different drainage systems produced very diverse offspring combining the genetic traits of both parental species,” she added.

她补充说:“来自不同排水系统的慈鲷交配产生了非常多样化的后代，结合了两个亲本物种的遗传特征。”