Anyone in this space apply for and/or receive an ERC Consolidator or know someone who has? Or has served on a panel? I think I have a great idea, but I'm trying to figure out the landscape. #ERC #ERCCoG

Last major paper of my #MSCA is finally out!! I modeled and mapped over 300 fish species in three orders in 3D to demonstrate how incorporating a depth perspective may offer a view of open-ocean biodiversity patterns that differs from a typical 2D approach. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Happy #Halloween 🎃Since this fellow was so popular we are once again sharing spooktacular illustrations of Vampyroteuthis. The 'vampire squid from hell' is neither squid nor vampire, using sticky filaments to feed on marine snow 📖 Reports from the German Deep-Sea Expedition 'Valdivia' 1898-1899

#FishADay Varicus lacerta Godzilla Goby. Known from mesophotic reef off Curaçao, only known from one specimen. Recent explorations of deep reefs worldwide by submersibles and technical divers have shown there is still LOTS of work for marine fish taxonomists to do. blog.pensoft.net/2016/06/08/t...

Very happy to see another paper out in which I had a small part to play. Big congrats to Erika Páez V., et al.! doi.org/10.1111/syen...

#FishADay Parupeneus cyclostomus Yellow-saddle Goatfish. Indo-Pacific Reefs. Chemosensory barbels snuffle through substrate to detect prey, but have also been observed hunting cooperatively with other goatfish or even octopuses, such as this Day Octopus. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpQ_...

I'm hiring!⭐ As part of the DFF Sapere Aude-funded project MiddleEarth, I am looking for 1 postdoctoral researcher and 1 research assistant.

Got up super early on Saturday to virtually attend a #CIAC2025 workshop in Okinawa as an invited speaker on 3D species distribution modeling. Looking forward to seeing these tools used to help recognize cryptic cephalopod biodiversity!! #voluModel

#FishADay Opasanus phoebotron Scarecrow Toadfish. Near-shore Caribbean, but seemingly absent from Florida, 7-16 cm total length. While there is not a lot out there about the species, the original description from 1961 makes for a fun read (see below). digitallibrary.amnh.org/server/api/c...

#FishADay Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Silver Carp. Threatened in natural habitat (rivers of continental eastern Asia); widely aquacultured and introduced for food production and water quality control. Breed quickly, grow large, and in some places jump when startled. youtu.be/LEAc1C48Yo4

#FishADay Coryphaenoides armatus Abyssal Grenadier. Abyssal and cosmopolitan, generally between 800 and 5,493 m. Evidence from brain development suggests juveniles hunt by sight, adults by smell. Enjoy this supercut of C. armatus and friends, care of @mbarinews.bsky.social youtu.be/O7CXprStVdo?...

Please pass along, I’m recruiting PhD students to join our Macroecology Lab @uofa-eeb.bsky.social We study phys ecology, macroecology, biodiversity - spanning scaling, trait-based ecology, theory, comparative biology & ecoinformatics. Several avenues for funding. Please reach out if interested🧪🌐🌾

#FishADay Isurus paucus Longfin Mako Shark. Cosmopolitan in tropical and temperate pelagic waters, but distribution not well documented. Reproduce via aplacental viviparity--hatch inside uterus, young continue to develop prior to birth, sustained by nonviable eggs. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXs2...

#FishADay Prionotus miles Galapagos Sea Robin. Sand rubble bottoms off rocky reefs in the Galapagos Islands. As with other sea robins, first three pectoral fin rays highly modified into little spider legs it uses to creep along the seafloor, probing for goodies. youtu.be/h_UVOW5pcAw?...

#FishADay Liparis mucosus Slimy Snailfish. NW Pacific coast. Up to 13cm, color varies from brown to red. Not to be confused w/ widespread orchid genus of same name, from Liparos, "oily" or "shiny"--leaves in orchid's case, whole critter in snailfish's case. www.inaturalist.org/taxa/223898-...

#FishADay Ethadophis byrnei Ordinary Eel. A snake eel originally known from a single specimen collected from the Gulf of California in 1967. A second specimen was reported from the Gulf of Tehuantepec in 2019. I guess it's not so ordinary... aiep.pensoft.net/article/26915/

New notebook day! I've been keeping hard-copy research notes since I was an undergrad research assistant. My PI at the time told me, "You need to take good enough notes that if you are hit by a bus, someone can take over for you."

#FishADay Ogcocephalus radiatus, Polka-Dot Batfish. Subtropical NW Atlantic coast. Highly modified to creep along seafloor, tricking prey into checking out a small, wiggly thing. "Hind legs" = pectoral fins, "front legs" = pelvic fins, lure over mouth = first dorsal fin spine. youtu.be/ubPOE4XJ85g

#FishADay Stenodus nelma Inconnu aka Nelma. Arctic Ocean basin, mostly anadromous. Prefers waters under 16 C, gets up to 150 cm long. Prized sport fish (sometimes called "Arctic Tarpon") and subsistence food for native peoples of northwest Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. youtu.be/8rBHYE4pB4I

#FishADay Pagrus major Red Seabream. Western Pacific, mostly near reef bottoms. Highly-valued in several East Asian culinary traditions. In Japan, it's associated w/ luck & abundance; inspired street snack, taiyaki--basically a stuffed, fish-shaped waffle. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...

#FishADay Periophthalmus barbarus Atlantic Mudskipper. Coastal tropical Africa. Spend most of their time on land, subsequently developed some unique adaptations to do things terrestrial tetrapods take for granted, like blinking--pulls its eyes into its head. www.youtube.com/watch?v=twho...

#FishADay Pylodictis olivaris Flathead Catfish. FW from Great Lakes to Mexico. Reaches 150+ cm; closest living relative is a blind cave fish that reaches ~13 cm. Recent study documented reshuffling of food webs where it has invaded the Susquehanna www.wired2fish.com/news/invader...

#FishADay Satanoperca leucosticta Whitespot Eartheater. FW Guiana shield. "Eartheater" because they grab mouthfuls of substrate and sift out tasty morsels. Mouth-brooded by females, sometimes from the egg stage, sometimes from the larval stage. youtu.be/vJE1wwwTGwQ

#FishADay Monopterus albus Asian Swamp Eel. Widespread FW E and SE Asia. Adults & juveniles obligate air-breathers; earlier life stages absorb oxygen through skin. Makes control in introduced range hard--typical fish poisons are absorbed through gills. eu.naplesnews.com/story/news/2...

New update to #occCite #Rstats package--we're up to v0.6.1. A dependency used for plotting has been archived on CRAN, but is still available via another repository. This makes it possible to plot occCite summary figures without exploding if waffle is unavailable. cran.r-project.org/package=occC...

#FishADay Listrura elongata. Freshly described from Rio Camboriú basin in Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Very elongate burrower missing dorsal and pectoral fins (they'd just get in the way anyway). Two other species in the genus have indepenedently lost fins. www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...

#FishADay Lota lota Burbot. Circumpolar; the only freshwater gadiform. 16th century accounts in the UK say they were so common they were used as pig food; they have not been seen in the UK since the 1960s. youtu.be/FRxxB_INZQk?...

#FishADay Orectolobus maculatus Spotted Wobbegong. South coast of Australia. Coloration and fleshy lappets help it blend in with bottom to catch prey unawares, hence its other names--carpet shark and tassel shark. www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1lQ...

#FishADay Careproctus colliculi Bumpy Snailfish. Newly described species from Monterey Canyon off California. Single specimen (collected via suction sampler by ROV Doc Ricketts in 3268 m of water) is distinct from congeners based on (name gave it away) fleshy bumps on its head. youtu.be/hwsl-ebVVoU

#FishADay Troglichthys rosae Ozark Cavefish. Native to around 15 caves on Ozark Plateau in SE US. No optic nerve and only rudimentary eyes; instead uses sensory papillae to detect prey. Recent study found they began adapting to cave life ~ 2-11 million years ago. news.yale.edu/2025/08/27/d...

Now that #FishADay has covered all six candidates for Denmark's National Fish, vote here! (and if you care to, comment with your choice!) nationalfisk.dk/hvilke-fisk-...

#FishADay Clupea harengus Atlantic Herring. North Atlantic benthopelagic. School in huge numbers; communicate by releasing air from swim bladder through anus. Yeah, yeah fine. Farting. Strange sounds in the Cold War Baltic were feared to be submarines, but...yeah. www.iflscience.com/for-15-years...

#FishADay Gadus morhua, Atlantic Cod. North Atlantic benthopelagic. School during the day, disperse at night to feed. A 5kg female can produce 2.5 million eggs in a season; larvae drift in pelagic, then settle to the bottom as adults. youtu.be/x8FZ7u-yFbA?...

It isn't too late to submit an abstract for the @biogeography.bsky.social meeting in Aarhus in January! They just extended the deadline to 8 September. Hope to see you there!

#FishADay Scomber scombrus Atlantic Mackerel. Temperate epipelagic North Atlantic. Spends summer near coasts, follows warm water at depth and farther from the coast in the winter. Highly commercial, reported in dense shoals 9 km long, 4 km wide, and 40 m!! youtu.be/5LhVBlZc1v0

#FishADay Salmo trutta trutta Sea Trout. Anadromous form of Brown Trout, native to coastal Europe. At sea, silvery w/ spots, but on return to freshwater to breed, take on "typical" Brown Trout coloration. Unlike anadromous salmon, post-spawning die-off is not typical. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cza...

#FishADay Pleuronectes platessa Plaice. Common on sandy and muddy bottoms of the European continental shelf. Both eyes are on the right side of adult body, and while color can vary, they always have distinctive red spots. youtu.be/3MhZyeXt9Z0

#FishADay Anguilla anguilla European Eel. Adults mostly freshwater, but breed at sea. Wild spawning has never been observed, but recent tagging studies followed them all the way to the Sargasso Sea (also spawning ground of American Eel), a journey of over a year. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Denmark is voting to select a national fish, so get ready for some election-focused #FishADay coverage! nationalfisk.dk

#FishADay Echiichthys vipera, Lesser Weever. Coastal northeast Atlantic. Ambush predators that bury themselves up to the eyes in sand and wait for tasty morsels to swim by. Unfortunately for humans, they also have venomous spines that pack a punch when they're stepped on. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Just one more week to submit an abstract for our biennial conference! More info found here: conferences.au.dk/tibs-aarhus-...

Modellers take note!! This is a nice demonstration of the consequences of letting statistics versus a priori ecological knowledge drive predictive variable selection.

#FishADay Porichthys notatus Plainfin Midshipman. Northeast Pacific. Breed in shallow water on the coast. Males build nests, then "sing" by vibrating their swim bladders, calling in females to lay eggs. Males then care for the eggs until they hatch. youtu.be/g4eLU9Z4jBU

#FishADay Sciaenops ocellatus Red Drum. Western Atlantic from Massachusetts to Mexico. Prized as a sport fish; state saltwater fish of North Carolina and Texas. Males vibrate their swim bladders to create drumming and knocking sounds. macaulaylibrary.org/asset/111925...

The Minnesota State Fair never ceases to amaze. They even have math on a stick! www.mnstatefair.org/location/mat...

#FishADay Aploactisoma milesii Southern Velvetfish. Endemic to southern and western Australia, typically between 3 and 30 meters. Skin covered in spines that give it its "velvety" appearance; blotchy, variable coloration and various knobs and filaments help it camouflage. youtu.be/tnBRkVm9PAA?...

#FishADay Hoplostethus atlanticus Slimehead aka Orange Roughy. Bathypelagic. Submersible observations suggest two behavioral phases: resting phase when they are pale in color and sit on the bottom, and an active phase when they turn orange and forage. youtu.be/_9zkSLQlMVE?...

#FishADay Parambassis ranga Glassfish. S and SE Asia, particularly standing fresh water. Popular in aquarium trade for their transparency; sometimes sold with dye injected into them. This is not great for the fish, but is fortunately falling out of fashion. www.tfhdigital.com/tfh/nov_dec_...

#FishADay Remora remora Common Remora. Cosmopolitan pelagic. Modified dorsal fin acts as a suction cup to attach to sharks, turtles, boats, etc, but also capable of free-swimming, even though it looks very weird doing it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L4e...

#FishADay Platichthys stellatus Starry Flounder. Coastal North Pacific. So-called because they are covered with star-shaped tubercles. While Pleuronectiformes are also known as the right-eyed flounders, this species varies from 100% left-eyed in Japan to 50% in California. youtu.be/CMJ6E-NNyAk