SCIENCE BRIEFING
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Researchers believe they have solved the puzzle of three seemingly different fish, one all males, one all females and one all juveniles. They’re the same fish, and undergo remarkable changes as they mature.
Cetomimidae, a type of whalefish, had been known since the 19th century, but only females had been found. Tapetails and bignose fish were identified in the 1950s and 1960s. Tapetails were only found as juveniles and bignoses only as males.
There were so many differences no one could believe they were the same fish. The researchers were able to link the fish through comparative anatomical study and by their DNA. The article was published in Biology Letters.
