The researchers blame the disease on a couple of factors. The Great Barrier Reef lies directly below the largest hole in the ozone layer, which means the region receives significantly more UV radiation than other place on Earth. In addition, they believe that the three fish species may be crossbreeding with each other, resulting in offspring that are more prone—due to the loss or mutation of certain genes—to UV-induced skin cancer. The team wants to run more genetic tests to determine if the inheritance patterns in crossbreeding coral trout might be the same as they are in the offspring of swordtail-platyfish matings.It's not clear what impact the skin cancer is having on the fish, says Michael Sweet, a microbiologist at Newcastle University and co-author of the study. "It's possible that the more advanced the melanoma gets, the more likely the fish are to slow down and the more likely they are to get munched" by sharks, he says. It's also unclear whether the quality of diseased fish pose a danger to humans who eat them, he says, but because they are also bred commercially, he is doubtful that diseased ones will ever make it to market.
For now, the researchers have confirmed only skin cancer in fish from the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, but it could be more widespread, says Sweet.
http://news.sciencemag.org/sci…-get-skin-cancer-too.html
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