My goodness this is cute. Short & Harasti (2026) named a new pipefish species after Snuffleupagus (the giant elephant muppet) Image of Solenostomus snuffleupagus sp. nov. by David Harasti. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Smithsonian Fish Curator position announcement! Note the application dates of May 12 – June 2, 2026. Should be posted here tomorrow: trustcareers.si.edu#js-careers-j...

In honor of #Subnautica2 releasing this week, we are talking about the scariest and/or most dangerous marine animals! First up, Stonefish! #LetsChangeThat

Smithsonian Fish Curator position announcement! Note the application dates of May 12 – June 2, 2026. Should be posted here tomorrow: trustcareers.si.edu#js-careers-j...

A Fish That Hitches Rides Where the Sun Doesn’t Shine www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/s...

I got to see this fossil of Nandopsis woodringi, the oldest cichlid fossil from the Greater Antilles (Miocene from Haiti) on my visit to @umich.edu . I worked on this rock as a graduate student when I was here and it was like seeing an old friend. #evolution

Having an absolute blast learning and reminiscing at the 25th anniversary of the @umich.edu Ecology & Evolutionary Biology department. Look at this list of speakers! #GoBlue

Devil’s hole pupfish might be functionally extinct (they recently added dozens of captive bred individuals to the 20 wild individuals left). www.npr.org/2026/05/07/n...

Love this paper on maybe my favorite group of fishes, the ponyfishes (Leiognathidae) Morphology of the light-organ system and bioluminescent blinking in the ponyfish tribe Equulitini (Teleostei: Leiognathidae) Ghedotti et al. 2026 #oa journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

This session for #JMIH26 is made up mostly of my former lab members and their partners lol. Thanks for sharing @sheifishy.bsky.social

I talk to lots of kids groups and my favorite is 8th graders because some of them look like toddlers and others are like 6’3 with a beard.

Had fun hosting an old friend, Dr. Gonzalo Giribet, Director of Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, for a seminar at the LSU Museum of Natural Science @lsumns.bsky.social

Our 2026 Linnean Medal winner for research, @mstiassny.bsky.social, has transformed understanding of fish evolution, from African rivers to the tree of life. Blending fieldwork and advanced imaging, she’s revealed blind species adapted to low-light environments and alarming declines in biodiversity.

My friend and dearest mentor Melanie Stiassny has won the The Linnean Medal! Perhaps the highest honor for a natural historian. Congrats to Melanie!!! @amnh.org @linneansociety.bsky.social #naturalhistory

During #SSB2026 @bruno-soares.bsky.social gave an excellent talk about the difficulty Global South researchers have describing new species because they often have to view types in US/European museums. Here is one solution we came up, published today: academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

Not saying I had anything to do with it - but I’ve been complaining that they haven’t had the sound, or bird silhouettes, on in the ‘rainforest’ between A and B gates in the Atlanta airport. Anyway - thanks for turning them back on @atlairport.bsky.social !!!

Here I am w/Executive Director Amanda Townley and President Ken Miller with my NCSE Member Card that I had them both sign.

Just wrapped Day 1 of the meeting of the advisory board for @ncse.bsky.social - if you don’t know about NCSE they are a major force defending the teaching of #evolution and #climatechange. Become a member! share.google/DFXKn6f5QEl3...

Trump just fired much of the National Science Board that guides the National Science Foundation - another blow to the NSF. #savetheNSF

If you want to know the history of the oldest DNA/genetic collection of vertebrates - here it is. And it is at LSU @lsu.bsky.social #DNAday

Interesting that these two remora specimens my lab picked up in Taiwan 🇹🇼 are so different. The sucking disc is a hyper modified dorsal fin. But the one on the left has two distinct ones? Anyone know whadupwitdat? @flammanglab.bsky.social #ichthyology #teratology

A History of DNA Sequencing and How It Has Changed the Way We Do Science at LSU By Paige B. Jarreau She does a nice job explaining the history of the enormous collection of genetic resources @lsumns.bsky.social and some of my stuff is featured in the article too. www.lsu.edu/blog/2026/04...

Specimens from my labs 2025 trip to Taiwan 🇹🇼 arrived. Always fun to begin the unpacking and now we can say the trip was a success. Batfish, wrasses, ponyfish and much more! Also cool that my undergrad Maddie was there on the trip and is here to unpack the specimens she collected. #ichthyology

“Between January 2025 and February 2026, STEM and health employees at science-focused agencies saw nearly 15,000 jobs cut. The rate outpaced cuts among other federal workers.” OPM data - Figure from Wash Post article 19 April. (Where US science has been hit hardest.) NSF at -42%!

HEY did you know that if you have ADHD you can get a free lifetime pass to our national parks?! Just need your psychiatrist to sign off on it. Holy mackerel how has no one told me this before.

How Female Anglerfish Evolved to Have It All www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/s...

Many thanks to the Phi Beta Kappa chapter of Elon University for hosting me and allowing me to speak at the PBK induction #evolution #scicomm

Biologists Confirm Not Much Evolution Happened Today theonion.com/biologists-c...

My book release day event at Charis Books was completely full and I was so lucky to have Deboleena Roy (left) as my conversation partner and among many friends in the audience, the incredible novelist Tayari Jones (right), whose new novel KIN you should RUN to the bookstore to grab.

Out in beautiful Muir Woods. I needed to hug a redwood and today I got to. Yay!

Geaux Blue! #GoBlue wearing my University of Michigan Museum of Natural History shirt in San Francisco! #michigan

Stopped by briefly at @calacademy.bsky.social with my family where I got to see @coralreeffish.bsky.social and his awesome coral 🪸 reef fish exhibit and fish collections. Amazing to learn that some of the animals he brought back are breeding and helping conserve these species.

Elephant seal 🦭 pup - about two months old - as seen on our outing in San Francisco. Given the date today is it an ‘Easter seal’?

The U.S. administration released the FY 2027 Budget Request this morning, proposing deep cuts to science funding once again. While there are similarities in the proposed cuts between FY26 and FY27, the final FY26 appropriations show the impact of advocacy in action.

Even the gar are fabulous here in San Francisco - yes I already told @solomonrdavid.bsky.social and @thegarfather.bsky.social

A gentle reminder that there is less than a month to get in ASIH Raney Fund applications. Get up to $1,000 for your fishy research!

Happy trans day of visibility, here is a wrasse design I made awhile ago because all wrasses change sexes as they age.

This 6-foot fish has the world’s longest freshwater migration. Amazon nations are uniting to save it www.cnn.com/science/dora...

William Beebe says: "To be a Naturalist is better than to be a King."

From Knowledge to Action: Next Steps for the Natural Science Collections Community Ellwood et al. 2026, BioScience academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

Held a Pisaster sea star yesterday at the College of William & Mary (here to give a talk for their Phi Beta Kappa chapter) I didn’t realize how heavy these things are. I know Bob Paine was a big dude but I don’t know how he could fling them as far as he did in his ‘keystone species’ experiments.

Please consider donating to the LSU Museum of Natural Science for @lsu.bsky.social LSU's Giving Day give.lsufoundation.org/schools/Loui... Check out this cute video about us, narrated by yours truly www.youtube.com/shorts/npssG... #naturalhistory #outreach #evolution #scicomm #science #fieldwork

Applications open for the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications They give awards to scientists, journalists and communicators at both junior and senior levels. #scicomm www.nationalacademies.org/programs/NAE...

I’m quoted in this important Guardian article by @whatsitlike.me about colon cancer. I got the bad news today that chemo didn’t do the trick after 24 treatments. I start immunotherapy next week. Get tested folks; don’t ignore your health. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Vote to help this conservation effort to save some rare species including the Hoosier cavefish described by @niemiller.bsky.social (an actual Hoosier as an IU alum) and me (a hoser). It's free and fun! uproar.indianapoliszoo.com

And let us thank those Natural Historians of the past and the Geneticists of today... and the Historical Ecologists... and the Teeth Researchers... and the Museum Curators for the science that let us tell these stories of the lost species #ExtinctionIsForever #2026MMM

I’m quoted in this important Guardian article by @whatsitlike.me about colon cancer. I got the bad news today that chemo didn’t do the trick after 24 treatments. I start immunotherapy next week. Get tested folks; don’t ignore your health. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Loved reading ‘Annapurna’ about the triumphant and tragic climb by seven women and sherpas up the world’s 10th highest peak. I hope to see this mountain this summer. Unlike similar books this one covers group dynamics and leadership in great detail as it is written by the expedition lead.

10 days remaining to submit your Mini-ARTS award! These awards are for revisionary taxonomy and systematics. Up to $4,000 is available per award. For guidelines and to submit your application, see our website www.systbio.org/mini-arts-aw...