February 17, 2006

Ichthyologists Each Claim a Key Discovery; a Bioethicist Fears Guilt by Association With Disgraced Cloning Researcher

By RICHARD MONASTERSKY

SIZE MATTERS UNDERWATER: Fishermen often compete for the biggest catches, but a couple of ichthyologists are sparring over something quite the opposite. They both claim to have identified the world's smallest known vertebrate.

Last month, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a team of researchers from Europe and Singapore reported finding a new genus of freshwater fish in swamps in Southeast Asia. One species from Sumatra, which they named Paedocypris progenetica, had a mature