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Imagine waking up one morning to find that your pet crayfish had multiplied like an invasion of ten-legged aquatic Tribbles,
想想一下某天清晨醒来发现你的宠物小龙虾繁殖了，就像是十条腿的水生毛球族一样，
even though it was the only animal in the tank and had been for quite some time.
虽然它是在水箱中生活了一段时间的唯一生物。
It sounds impossible, something out of a sci-fi movie... What is this hypothetical you're presenting to us Hank Green?
听起来不可能，像是讲科幻电影一样...汉克·格林，你这又是整得哪一出呢？
I'm presenting to you the exact story a German aquarium owner told scientists in 1995.
我是在为大家呈现1995年一位德国水族馆馆长告诉科学家们的故事。
And in 2003, a paper in the journal Nature confirmed it:
并且2003年发表于《自然》杂志上的一篇论文证实了这件事：
This new crayfish population was made entirely of asexually reproducing, all-female clones.
这个新的小龙虾物种完全是无性繁殖且全是雌性繁殖个体。
Now, they're taking over. Plot Twist!
现在，它们正在掌握全局。剧情转折！
Many researchers think this crayfish should be considered a new species, and they've dubbed it Procambarus virginalis.
很多研究人员认为这种小龙虾应被归为一种新的物种，他们将其称为美洲龙纹螯虾。
But it's more commonly called the Marmorkrebs or marbled crayfish
但是更常被称为大理石纹螯虾。
Instead of being produced in some top-secret, diabolical clone lab, it probably arose thanks to a simple mutation.
它们并非产自一些绝密又邪恶的克隆实验室，而是基本位变异产生。
Normally, crayfish have two sets of chromosomes that carry their genetic information -- one inherited from each parent.
通常，小龙虾有两组携带遗传信息的染色体—从父母身上分别继承一组。
But some time in the 1990s, a single crayfish was born with three sets -- one from one parent, and two from the other.
但是在20世纪90年代，有一只携带三组染色体的小龙虾诞生了—一组来自一个父母，其他两个来自另一个。
Scientists think the parents were a different type of crayfish native to the Florida Everglades,
科学家认为这种小龙虾的父母是原产于佛罗里达大沼泽地的不同种类的小龙虾，
and that one of them passed along the extra chromosomes through a mutated sex cell.
其中一位父母通过生殖突变细胞将额外的染色体遗传了下来。
Having entire extra sets of chromosomes is typically fatal in animals,
拥有额外的一组染色体在动物界是致命的，
but for some reason, this baby was a healthy female... It was just… different. Specifically, it didn't need to partner to mate.
但出于某些原因，这只虾宝宝是一只健康的雌性...只是有些不同。尤其是，它不需要交配的伴侣。
Unlike all other kinds of crayfish, it could reproduce asexually through a process called parthenogenesis,
和所有其他的小龙虾不同，它可以通过孤雌生殖进行无性繁殖，
laying hundreds of eggs that were exact genetic copies of itself.
产下数百只和自己基因相同的卵。
Then, each of those eggs grew up to be another self-cloning female that started taking over, Tribble-style.
然后每一颗卵都能长成另一只自我克隆的雌性小龙虾。
If you haven't seen the trouble with tribbles the Star Trek orginial series show that's because you're not old like me.
如果你没看过《星际迷航》原版系列中毛球族所带来的麻烦，那是因为你比我年轻。
If the new species had stayed confined to aquariums,
如果新的物种呆在水族馆中，
the marbled crayfish would have been nothing more than a genetic researcher's oddity and an aquarium hobbyist's nightmare.
那么大理石纹螯虾将不过是一位基因研究院的怪癖以及养鱼爱好者的噩梦。
Unfortunately, though, the rapidly-multiplying clones made it into the wild - likely on a bunch of separate occasions
不幸的是，虽然迅速繁殖的小龙虾进入了荒野—可能是在很多不同的地方
where they now live and copy themselves over and over and over.
他们现在在那里生存并不断地繁殖复制自己。
Because only one individual is needed to start a new population and every individual is fertile,
因为开始新的物种只需要一只小龙虾就够了，而且每只都能够产卵，
marbled crayfish can rapidly overrun new environments and leave native species in the dust.
大理石纹螯虾可以迅速在新环境中泛滥，将原生物种远远抛在后边。
Since its discovery, this crayfish has spread through Europe and Africa and has even appeared as far away as Japan.
自发现以来，这种小龙虾就遍布欧洲和非洲并出现在了遥远的日本。
To prevent them from invading even more areas, the European Union and some U.S. states have banned them from being sold,
为了防止它们入侵更多领域，欧盟和一些美国地区已经禁止出售它们，
but we probably won't see them disappear any time soon.
但短期内它们还无法消失。
Besides their uncanny ability to multiply, some people still intentionally release marbled crayfish
除了它们繁殖的神秘能力，一些人仍有意放生大理石纹螯虾
like some farmers in Madagascar, who raise them for food.
比如马达加斯加岛的一些农民，他们以大理石纹螯虾为食。
And in some places, it's still possible for aquarium hobbyists to buy them.
在一些地方，养鱼爱好者仍然可以买到它们。
Getting rid of invasive species is a huge undertaking, especially when every single individual can restart the population.
摆脱物种入侵是一个巨大的任务，尤其是当每只个体能够繁殖的时候。
So if you find yourself admiring a marbled crayfish at your local aquarium supply shop,
所以如果你喜欢当地水族馆商店中的大理石纹螯虾
consider what you'll do to responsibly care for your future clone army. And then kill it!
你要想想你要怎么照顾这只未来的克隆大军。然后宰了它们！
Right there in the sto...don't do that. Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow!
别那么做。感谢收看本期《科学秀》！
If the idea of invasive species gets you all riled up in the morning, you might also enjoy our episode about why we can't just kill them all off.
如果物种入侵的想法让你恼火，或许你还想看看我们讲解不能将它们灭绝的原因。
