Fisherman Catches Fish With Wings, Then Finds Out What It Really Is

Over the next few hours, they examined everything—fins, mouth, bristles, skin texture, and behavior. Its DNA came back as mostly Pterygoplichthys, but with strange anomalies in fin development genes. “These fins aren’t ornamental,” Jake said. “They’re muscular. They’re used for propulsion and lift—like underwater gliding. It’s adapted to murkier water, low oxygen, fast escape.”