Wild rivers in Brazil the arrival of GMO animals that make local residents afraid. In the flow of the river, the zebrafish glow in the dark, aka glow in the dark.
So far the genetically modified zebrafish can glow it seems less bothersome than other invasive species, and probably no worse than unmodified zebrafish.
For some people, even the beautiful colors of tropical reef fish are not bright enough. For that reason, zebrafish are modified to produce fluorescent proteins that can glow, and are sold for the home aquarium market and industry.
Unfortunately, neither the owner nor the seller of these aquarium fish are responsible for the ownership of these fish. At least 70 non-native aquarium fish have been found in Brazil's inland waters, 31 of which are known to have settled in their new ecosystem.
Quoted from IFL Science, in a paper published in Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, the shining zebrafish has now been added to the list.
Zebrafish or zebrafish are model animals that are widely used by scientists because they are easy to raise in the laboratory, their larvae are transparent, and there are many known records about their genetics.
In the late 1990s, the National University of Singapore showed that if you added the genes from a jellyfish and sea anemone to a zebrafish, they would glow red and green, respectively.
The Texas company Yorktown Technologies saw this market, and began selling a colorful zebrafish called GloFish. Since then, they have expanded the choice of colors on offer.
Several competing luminescent aquarium fish have entered the market since then, using zebrafish and other species. Reports of glowing fish in the wild have been around since 2013. GMO fish has been banned in Brazil since 2017, but the law is not enforced.
Dr André Magalhães of the Universidade Federal de Sao Joa del Rey and co-authors surveyed five tributaries in Brazil's ParaÃba do Sul freshwater ecoregion. This area was chosen because it is close to a very large ornamental culture aqua center, where fish are known to frequently flee during water releases, sometimes settling in nearby waters. The warm and relatively stable climate is friendly to zebrafish.
"Red zebrafish were found at four sites and green at three sites, but only in two of their tributaries were common enough to be studied further. Both types of fish, especially the green type, have a wide variety of food in their stomachs, particularly the larvae of aquatic invertebrates." he said.
For most of the year they seem capable of reproducing, and being such an extraordinary breeder, their numbers have the potential to grow rapidly.
On the other hand, there was a record of a drastic reduction in the number of juvenile fish. The authors attribute this to the lack of vegetated areas where zebrafish larvae normally breed.
"We are concerned that if GloFish become abundant enough, they could pose a threat to some native invertebrates, or overpower local species. The waters in which they are found are free of predators, but their coloration could attract unwanted attention if spread further," he said.
A 2015 study predicted the luminescent protein that makes fish glow would cause harm in the wild. However, any species without local predators can be disastrous in a new environment, and it's likely one color or another will help transgenic species take over.