The Prussian carp (Carassius gibelio) has one of the most unusual genomes in the animal kingdom—some populations reproduce asexually through a process called gynogenesis, where the sperm from a male of another species is needed to trigger egg development, but the sperm’s DNA is not incorporated into the offspring. As a result, some individuals are triploid or even tetraploid, meaning they carry three or four complete sets of chromosomes. This contributes to their incredible adaptability and invasive success.

Kuhl, H., Du, K., Schartl, M. et al. Equilibrated evolution of the mixed auto-/allopolyploid haplotype-resolved genome of the invasive hexaploid Prussian carp. Nat Commun 13, 4092 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31515-w

Authors: Sonia Maria Duma, Iker López Marín, Vanesa López Ortega, Claudia Orenes Arroyo