Rapid re-evolution of scale cover in carp

What is it about?

Scales are an important protection for fish in nature, but during domestication of carp a “mirror” mutant with few scales has been selected by fish farmers. Some of these were introduced in Madagascar in 1912. A century later, we found that all wild carps in Madagascar derive from this introduction, but most of them are fully scaled, though they still carry the “mirror” mutation. This demonstrates a rapid evolution to restore the needed scale cover, using different genes than the original mutated gene, highlighting the efficiency of natural selection to provide alternative solutions for organisms to adapt to their environment.

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