A new "hybridised" fish has been unveiled in Hungary after researchers unintentionally blended eggs and sperm from two different species.
The blending of eggs from the Russian sturgeon and American paddlefish sperm led to the accidental discovery of the hybridised fish, nicknamed the "sturddlefish".
Believing what they had accomplished was impossible due to the two species not having the same physical features, they redid the experiment and had the same outcome.
Louisana-based aquatic ecologist Solomon David said he couldn't believe what the researchers had uncovered.
"I did a double-take when I saw it," he told the New York Times. "I thought, hybridisation between sturgeon and paddlefish? There's no way."
Hungary Research Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture senior research fellow Attila Mozsár said the researchers never intended to fool about with the fish species.
"The embryonic development should not happen," he told USA Today.
Detailed in a study published in the journal Genes, the findings show the fish have been eating and growing well despite their unexpected breeding.
"This was the first successful hybridisation between these two species and between members of the family Acipenseridae and Polyodontidae," the study said.
But they suspect the sturddlefish, like most hybrid animals, is sterile.
