A new species of piranha-like fish has been discovered in the Amazon River after secretly masquerading as another, nearly identical species for almost 200 years. Scientists have named the newfound fish after the dark lord Sauron from J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic"The Lord of the Rings." The newly identified species, Myloplus sauron, is a pacu — a close relative of piranhas that are often confused for the iconic freshwater fish. Researchers discovered M.
"Its pattern looks a lot like the Eye of Sauron, especially with the orange patches on its body," study co-author Rupert Collins, the senior curator of fishes at the Natural History Museum in London, said in a statement."As soon as one of my colleagues came up with the name for this fish, we knew it was perfect for it."Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter nowGet the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
Despite the similarities between the three pacu species listed in the new study, researchers are unsure how closely related the three fish are. It is possible that they could have all descended from a recent single ancestor. But it is also possible that they are distantly related and all evolved to look the same because this gave them the best chance of survival in their environment — a phenomenon known as convergent evolution.