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Name : Northern sea robin redbreast ( Prionotus carolinus )
Where it live : The shallow water of the westerly Atlantic , from Nova Scotia to Florida
What it eat : Shrimp , crab , calamari , worm and small Pisces the Fishes
Why it ’s awe-inspiring : Northern sea Erithacus rubecola are uncanny fish with big , spiny head ; bright - blue eyes ; two elephantine fender fins ; and six Cancer - corresponding legs .
It ’s these small pegleg that make ocean Old World robin so strange . Other ocean creatures follow these Pisces the Fishes around because they are so undecomposed at finding and digging up buried food — but until late , scientists did n’t infer what made northern redbreast angle such skilled forager .
In two study published in 2024 , research worker revealed that northern sea robins ' legs act like tongues , allowing the fish to taste their surroundings for sign of food .
" This is a fish that grew leg using the same factor that put up to the development of our limbs and then repurposed these legs to find target using the same genes our tongue apply to taste food — pretty groundless , " study authorNicholas Bellono , a prof of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University , said in a statement .
The scientist found that northerly ocean robins can detect and uncover earth - up mussel using papillae that cover their wooden leg . Papillae are small sensory structures , which in humans are find on the upper surface of the spit . The research worker discovered that northerly sea robin redbreast papillae have taste receptors and touch - sensitive neurons , enabling the Pisces the Fishes to use their legs to smack the terra firma to discover food for thought .
Inone of the survey , the investigator grew northerly ocean robins from embryos in a lab to watch over their legs grow . They found that the legs develop from the thoracic quintet , separating from the rest period of the fin light beam during development . The legs are controlled by distinct walk muscles at the fundament of the stage and are shaped like shovels to help oneself the fish dig .
— Alligator garpike : The ' living fossil ' that has barely evolve for 100 million years
— Angular roughshark : The squealer - faced shark that oink when captured
— gargantuan king of the herring : The ' doomsday ' Pisces the Fishes of fable that supposedly foreshadows earthquake
Although all sea Old World robin specie have legs , not all are adapted for digging and tasting , the squad find . " We were surprised to see how much ocean robins differ from each other in receptive construction find on the legs , " study co - authorDavid Kingsley , a developmental biologist at Stanford University , said in the statement . " The organisation thus displays multiple levels of evolutionary innovation from difference between ocean Erithacus rubecola and most other fish , differences between ocean robin species , and differences in everything from structure and centripetal organ to behavior . "
But northerly sea robin redbreast ' knife legs do n’t always lead to a repast . After the northerly sea American robin dig out up their dinner , the fish keep up them often swoop in and slip their food , in an routine known as kleptoparasitism .
