Fish mutants in our rivers

Today there is no one who does not know who the mutants are. Even the children have heard about these creatures. Some speak about them with irony, others - with caution, some believe in their existence, while others are skeptical. Let's try to figure out if the mutants really exist, and if they exist, then where are they?

Where did the mutant fish in our world come from?

The Internet and the media are increasingly beginning to be full of messages that in different parts of the world people discover creatures whose appearance is different from normal and familiar to us. Ugly animals, mutant fish, people with genetic abnormalities appear and fill our planet. Today, no one is surprised at the existence of ugly inhabitants of the Earth. A special boom of their appearance occurred after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Then the first information began to emerge that in the reservoirs of the cities located in the area of the nuclear power plant, mutant fish were found. Pripyat is one of such settlements, the level of radiation in which led to the modification of living organisms.

Mutation of fish

The most dangerous of the mutations for nature is genetic. Because even after the elimination or disappearance of the factors that caused it, it will be inherited. So, in the natural reservoirs of our country, larvae of fish with two mouths, with three eyes, with two heads and even without internal organs, are often found. Usually such mutant fish do not live to a mature state. But there are also viable among them, despite their deviations.

In the Volga River basin, for example, there are more than 50 mutations of fish. These individuals were found to have irregularities in the pigmentation of the scales and serious changes in blood. And in the Moscow River external deformities and diseases of some species of fish reach 100%.

The causes and types of mutations in fish

Ichthyologists of different countries, concerned about this situation, studied the mutation of fish in the basins of different rivers and came to the conclusion that the modifications take place not only because of chemical influences. The causes of mutation in the inhabitants of water bodies can also be adverse biological effects. For example, the appearance of extra fins in fish is associated with damage to the eggs by parasitic microorganisms.

What are the abnormalities in fish identified by mutation?

Genetics have established a concept such as phenodevity, which means beings with a deviation from a normal appearance.

Phenodevivites are distinguished by numerous displacements of scales, deformity and pterygoid cranial bones, frequent deformities of the fins and their absence, reduction and underdevelopment of the gill cover, fusion of the vertebrae, and disturbances in the structure of the internal organs.

So, near the shores of Japan are floating terrible creatures that have the head of a pink salmon, the jaw of a shark and the body of an eel. Scientists have suggested that these fish mutants appeared as a result of radiation exposure from the destroyed "Fukushima".

Chernobyl finds

In artificial reservoirs, phenodevity appears as a result of a closely related crossing. If the number of such individuals increases in the natural environment, this is due to the presence of teratogenic and mutagenic substances in the rivers.

For example, fish-mutants in Chernobyl have such a deviation as the curvature of the spine. This is due to the effects of radiation and poisons on the body. Adults with such ugliness come across in Pripyat quite often.

Unexpected and terrible finds are made by people in the reservoirs of the "exclusion zone" and other cities. These are fish-freaks of enormous size, with various growths and anomalies. These ugly creatures have become overgrown with myths and stories. And someone specially tells about the terrible monsters that live in Chernobyl to intimidate us.

Ecological catastrophy

The catch of fishermen from the Rostov region became interesting and unexpected. In the Salt Lake they caught a giant piranha weighing more than 2 kg. As a resident of the rivers of South America fell into the Russian lake, remains a mystery. However, experts made the assumption that toothy fish was released from the aquarium, and it was grown in captivity. But whether they say the truth or in this way soothe the inhabitants, it remains only to guess. Perhaps they are right. But if the reason for the appearance of piranhas is a mutation, then this is one of the signs of the impending danger for the inhabitants of the Earth.

Scientists say that fish anomalies are an occasion to ponder, because the next person can become himself. Pollution of water bodies by radiation, mutagenic substances and chemical emissions is the beginning of an ecological catastrophe. And only the reasonable activity of a person connected with the purification of water can save us from serious danger and consequences. Fish-mutants of Chernobyl make us worry and make timely decisions on the elimination of this problem.