The Junior research group "Adaptive Genomics of Sulawesi Ricefishes" is founded by Leibniz since 2017. Focus of the project is the funding. Focus of the project is studying the molecular evolutionary background of a particular reproductive strategy in ricefishes (Actinopterygii: Adrianichthyidae) called ventral breeding or ventral fin breeding, which has evolved in at least two lineages of this group occurring on Sulawesi.
In biodiversity research, little is known so far about how hybridizations of a native and a non-native species can lead to the evolution of an invasive hybrid. A group of researchers led by Dr Madlen Stange is now studying this aspect in a project at Leibniz Insitute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change - Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK). The group is investigating the spread of Phoxinus, an ecologically important schooling fish, in the River Sieg, a 155 km tributary of the River Rhine. The researchers are investigating the native and hybridized invasive populations on ecological, morphological, and genetic level to understand mechanisms and impact of hybridisation-invasions.