Russian scientists have discovered new species of fish in the Volga and Caspian Sea

Russian researchers have discovered new species of fish in the Volga and Caspian Sea, the press service of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) reported.

Two previously unknown species of goby fish were discovered, which received the names Caspian goby and Scythian tsutsik goby. In addition to the Caspian Sea, they are found in the Volga delta and in the Eastern Manych River.

Leading researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences Boris Levin admitted that the discovery was made quite unexpectedly - during a massive genetic analysis of Caspian fish. The importance of studying them is that some of these inhabitants of seas and rivers are among the dangerous invasive species that are now actively spreading along the Volga and a number of other rivers of Eurasia.

A new species of butterfly was caught by scientists off the coast of Kazakhstan along with a grass snake that was trying to eat it. It turned out to be a very rare species, since to date biologists have only managed to catch and study this inhabitant of the Caspian twice.

In turn, the study of the genome structure of a new species of tsutsik gobies indicated their connection with the Black Sea species of these fish. According to scientists, this feature confirms the ancient connection that existed between the Black and Caspian Seas approximately 2.1 million years ago. For this reason, the researchers called the species they found “Scythian,” in honor of the legendary Scythians from the Black Sea region.