Beware, Hybrid Australian Sharks!
Scientists have discovered the world’s first hybrid sharks in Australian waters, with multiple generations of the new creature found along the nation’s east coast.
Scientists say the discovery of interbred sharks could signal the presence of new “tropical” sharks in waters as far south as Sydney, The Australian reported….The new shark is a hybrid of the genetically distinct Australian blacktip, whose range extends north from Brisbane, and the larger common blacktip found in southeastern coastal waters.
The scientists say interbreeding between the two shark species is a sign the animals are adapting to climate change and they also warn that hybridization could make the sharks stronger.
Now comes a very tricky biology question, are the two “Species” of sharks actual separate species or are they subspecies of the same species.
Really the line between close species is VERY blurry. Still if this species is successful and can thrive in the full range, this will be THE new Tropical shark species…or if its not successful it’ll just be something that pops up in odd occations or exists in a very narrow habitat, like Coydogs, or other hybrids.
Still a neat story.
We’re gonna need a bigger boat.
It ain’t climate change that is causing this.
It’s unregulated bait-ball harvesting in mid ocean. Since no one is claiming this resource, factory fish boats are strip-mining it, and turning mid-ocean regions into deserts by removing the bottom of the food chain.
All pelagic sharks are moving into coastal areas, since those are the only zones with food … food in the form of unharmed fish stocks or swimmers.
I don’t know what’s going on in the waters around Oz, but currents change constantly so in the waters there MAY be climate change in those waters, or it could be population dynamics, or it could simply be natural entropy that brought the two populations together.
I don’t have enough information or experience to comment or speculate on it. And while the article was probably drinking the Man-made Global Warming kool-aid I didn’t attack that point.
…Or it may be that researchers are only now looking closely enough to determine that this is happening.
Remember,
Many environmental activists like to separate subspecies into species so that they can claim more impact by either “climate change” or by the effectiveness of bills to “save” the species.
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