Study reveals how venom contributed to formation of new species of insects, fishes

A new study has revealed that venom contributed to the extraordinary diversity of insects and fishes.

Published in the journal 'BMC Ecology and Evolution', the research showed venomous fishes and insects diversify around twice as fast as their non-venomous counterparts.

Over 1 million species of insects have so far been identified. This is three-quarters of all invertebrate species on Earth.

There are 31,269 species of fish, which make up almost half of all vertebrate species.

As of now, around 10 per cent of fish families and 16 per cent of insect families contain venomous species.

The research showed that venom has independently evolved at least 19-20 times in fishes and at least 28 times in insects across their evolutionary history.

Dr Kevin Arbuckle of Swansea University, lead researcher was quoted by ANI as saying, "Our results provide evidence that venom has played a part in generating the diversity of insects and fishes, which have the largest number of species amongst invertebrates and vertebrates respectively".

He added, "Venom is not the only factor driving species richness in these animal groups, but we show that it has played an important but previously unrecognised role in generating the amazing diversity we see today amongst insects and fishes.

Although tentative, the pattern of timing in the origins of venomous fishes suggests tantalising clues of what was driving the evolution of their venom. Unlike insects, where venom evolved fairly evenly throughout their history, most origins of fish venom were concentrated in the Late Cretaceous and Eocene periods".