#PositiveMondayNews - Good news for Florida’s reefs 🪸 Scientists have found corals that are likely resistant to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease! Findings like this help expand the #coralrestoration “toolbox” and give reefs a better shot at recovery.

Mote Scientists Identify Disease-Resistant Corals That Could Strengthen Future Reef Restoration | Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium

Scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory and collaborating institutions have completed the largest laboratory transmission experiment to date for stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), identifying naturally disease-resistant mountainous star coral …

mote.org

Thinking about a #Postdoc and interested in writing a competitive fellowship proposal? Are you interested in developing independent research in #EvoDevo, functional #Genomics, and adaptation in #Lepidoptera? Let's talk! 🦋

Reef microbes could become a new tool for protecting coral reefs #EarthDotCom #EarthSnap #Earth

Reef microbes could become a new tool for protecting coral reefs

A DNA study found coral reef microbes differ inside marine reserves, offering a new way to monitor reef health.

earth.com

TFW you suddenly see what you've been typing all day about in your social media feed 🤩🧬

Cheong Xin (CX) Chan@chancx.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My first #ICRS2026 @icrs.bsky.social: so glad to share what we've been working on in the areas of coral hologenomics and Symbiodiniaceae genomics. It's been an exciting, productive meeting with wonderful people! Tagging @hisatakeishida.bsky.social here for his excellent talk. Go k-mers!

More talks today at #ICRS2026 from the Symbiommunity Lab (+ friends)! PhD student Erin Shilling will be presenting on another SCTLD dataset from her dissertation. Room 504 at 10:20!! Then at 2:45 in the same room, Nick Jones will be sharing an update from our SCTLD-environment study!

Dr. Lauren E. Fuess@laurenfuess.bsky.social · 2mo ago

If you’re planning your afternoon schedule at #ICRS2026, I’ll be speaking on a multi-institutional project investigating how holobiont interactions shape resistance and response to SCTLD. 4:15 in room 515!

Looking for opportunities in coral reef science or marine conservation? Or have a position you want to share? Explore our job board: coralreefsecc.org/jo...  🪸 🌊

🧪 The NSF director is lying to you. Let’s fact check 7 claims from yesterday’s letter to the community, while pointing out 3 critical omissions. 🧵

The list of Ecology/Evolution/Marine Bio Labs recruiting grad students for Fall 2027 is live! PIs enter your position info here: forms.gle/MAGd4ohyPeoY... students (and PIs not recruiting) share the composite list: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share widely! 🧪

Ecology/Evolution/Marine Biology labs recruiting for Fall 2027

Please complete this form if you are a PI recruiting graduate students for a Fall 2027 start. If you are NOT recruiting, feel free to share the response sheet with prospective students looking for lab...

forms.gle

Meet a very happy batch of our pet juvenile (~2-3 months) upside down jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana). They need to acquire algal photosymbionts to go from sessile polyp to swimming ephyrae in a process called strobilation 🧪🦠🪸🌊🌿🪼🐙🌎

#TranslationTuesdays #ReefbitesBlog Mini héroes de los corales: ¿quiénes son los Microorganismos Beneficiosos para los Corales (BMCs)? Escrito por: Helena Villela Traducido por: Matías Gómez-Corrales Revisado por: Diana Carolina Vergara

Mini héroes de los corales: ¿quiénes son los Microorganismos Beneficiosos para los Corales (BMCs)?

Escrito por: Helena Villela Traducido por: Matías Gómez-Corrales Revisado por: Diana Carolina Vergara Cuando escuchas la palabra “bacteria”, quizás pienses en gérmenes, enfermedades o i…

reefbites.com

What a MASSIVE scientific undertaking 🤩 Stephens et al. inferred orthogroups for over 100 scleractinia reference genomes/transcriptomes - 228 datasets total! I can only begin to imagine what incredible insights can be gained from this 🪸🧬🧪 #popgen #evolution #coralreefs #phylogentics #EvoBio

Genome Biology and Evolution@genomebiolevol.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Stephens, Kulczyk & @bhattacharyalab.bsky.social suggest that dark genes (those with no ascribable biological function) in stony corals originated via bursts of lineage-specific duplication, often from genes with known functions. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag072 #genome #evolution #corals

Congratulations to Dr. Stephens and team! I'm honored to have my photos featured alongside this incredible work 😁

Genome Biology and Evolution@genomebiolevol.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Stephens, Kulczyk & @bhattacharyalab.bsky.social suggest that dark genes (those with no ascribable biological function) in stony corals originated via bursts of lineage-specific duplication, often from genes with known functions. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag072 #genome #evolution #corals

If you are a female early career scientist in STEM fields and want to find community and mentorship, these two conferences at UCLA (4/17-18) are for you!! there are slots and travel grants still available, I will be talking at both and look forward to meeting you! 🧪🌎🧬🌊🦠🌿

After I wrote a eulogy for science twitter, American Scientist asked me what’s next for online public science engagement. Here’s my piece on the science community on Bluesky Quotes @jay.bsky.team @danirabaiotti.bsky.social 🧪🌎🦑 www.americanscientist.org/blog/macrosc...

🚨 Post-doctoral position alert! 🚨 The Bhattacharya Lab at Rutgers University is seeking a postdoc in the field of algal multi-omics and metabolic engineering 🌊 🦠 🧬 Ideal start by June. Applications will be reviewed as received. Please share widely :) jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/269... #evobio

An especially timely message for #coral conservation -particularly given the growing efforts with assisted reproduction and cryopreservation! Looking forward to giving this a read!

The American Genetic Association@theaga.bsky.social · 7mo ago

This recently-accepted study highlights the critical need to incorporate genomic erosion—the loss of genetic diversity, accumulation of harmful mutations, maladaptation, and introgression—into conservation assessments. 1/3

Three-way hybridization of table corals in the Acropora hyacinthus group from the southern Great Barrier Reef results in parallel adaptive introgression. Check out our new preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202... #CoralSky #MarEvol #coral #popgen #consgen #genomics

Emerling, @freddelsuc.bsky.social et al. investigated candidate genes related to dentition, gustation, and mastication in nine convergent myrmecophagous mammalian lineages, finding that convergent evolution of myrmecophagy was a protracted process. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag009 #evobio #molbio

Pseudogenes document protracted parallel regression of oral anatomy in myrmecophagous mammals

Abstract. Adaptation to ant and/or termite consumption (myrmecophagy) in mammals constitutes a textbook example of convergent evolution, being independentl

doi.org

Genomic evolution across traits and across species: 🐟 #EvoDevo #Genomics #Evolution www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

For almost two decades, scientists have debated whether sponges or comb jellies are the first animal lineage. A feature in Nature describes how some researchers are calling for a more harmonious approach. #evosky 🧪

What were the first animals? The fierce sponge–jelly battle that just won’t end

For almost two decades, scientists have debated whether sponges or comb jellies are the first animal lineage. Now some are calling for a more harmonious approach.

go.nature.com

Preprint alert: We adopt a cheap & rapid WGS protocol for vertebrate sized genomes, and use it to sequence nearly 1K whitefish genomes to low/med coverage for lake-wide pop genomics of adults + larvae for species assignment, habitat use, decline & selection: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #PopGen

🪸🧬 Our take on what can multi-omics tell us about the coral bleaching problem: TL;DR 1️⃣ Corals are more complex than they appear 2️⃣ One-size-fits-all solutions won’t work – place-based, population-specific approaches matter Check it out👇 doi.org/10.1002/bies...

Nearly 9,000 baby corals are on the move from the Florida Aquarium to restoration institutes as part of a major effort to rebuild threatened reef ecosystems. Learn more below. #wmnf #floridanews #environment #coralrestoration #oceanconservation

Trump: "we found an answer to autism." Reality: Nope! We can't let the fearmongering, stigmatizing, guilt-placing lies win. 💪 ‘No relationship’: Scientists push back on Trump’s reported claim linking paracetamol to autism www.euronews.com/health/2025/... #ScienceMatters!

Scientists rebuke Trump’s reported claim linking paracetamol to autism

The global scientific community has pushed back on the claim that paracetamol during pregnancy is linked to autism, saying there is no relationship between the two.

euronews.com

Today’s #DailyCoralRead: Clay et al. show that modern Caribbean corals descend from fast-growing, stress-sensitive ancestors. With warming seas, communities may shift toward Eocene-like corals –slower-growing, longer-lived, and more stress-tolerant. 🌊🌡️ doi.org/10.1017/pab....

Due to the current funding climate, I’m crowdfunding the last of my PhD project, and 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩! 𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡, when I need to reach my $16k funding goal. I immensely appreciate your support! 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞: experiment.com/projects/rec...

Inadvertently, this is an incredible illustration of how (a) the infrastructure required for fossil fuel extraction is bonkers and (b) how we don't consider our oil and gas to be 'destroying nature' like wind turbines simply bc it's undersea

Your periodic reminder that mRNA vaccines are a scientific and public health game-changer. Those that have been approved have passed stringent efficacy and safety checks. They protect you and your child against potentially fatal diseases. You may, however, get a sore arm.

🌊 Today's #DailyCoralRead shows coral outplanting can boost reef accretion & structural complexity - depending on the species! 🪸 This is great news for #biodiversity 🐠🦀 since complex reefs support fish & invertebrates. #coralreefs #coralconservation

Coral restoration can drive rapid increases in reef accretion potential

Scientific Reports - Coral restoration can drive rapid increases in reef accretion potential

doi.org