Todd Clardy
@realfishdoc.bsky.social
Collections Manager of Ichthyology and CT Scanner Technical Lead for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County by day, Twitch streamer by night. https://www.twitch.tv/realfishdoc https://www.toddclardy.com/
Here's my monthly reviews roundup of the movies, books, and video games for August. A heavy shark theme this month, unexpectedly.
Monthly roundup - august
August was defined by a handful of shark creature feature movies and a video game where I hunted several species of sharks. I wasn't expecting August to be so shark heavy, but there you have it....
realfishdoc.com
Voyage alongside Dr. Tania Pineda-Enriquez, Collections Manager of Echinoderms, who recently returned from an epic expedition to document sea creatures inhabiting one of the most remote places on Earth—Antarctica: go.nhm.org/antarctic-ex...
This black dragonfish (Idiacanthus sp.) was spotted at 527 meters (1,729 feet) in Monterey Bay. Black dragonfish are built for life in the darkness of the deep ocean. Their ultra-black skin helps them stay camouflaged from prey like fishes and crustaceans. 🐉🖤
Do you like snailfishes? lumpsuckers? clingfishes? New phylogeny dropped, and to toot our own horn it's really good! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A few weeks ago, I ct scanned the rarest fish in the world. This species was described from this single individual, and no other individuals have been collected. Starting Sunday, I'll be segmenting its skeletal system and describing its osteology, and streaming it all live on Twitch! Join me!
Meet the rarest fish in the world!
YouTube video by RealFishDoc
youtu.be
A few weeks ago, I ct scanned the rarest fish in the world. This species was described from this single individual, and no other individuals have been collected. Starting Sunday, I'll be segmenting its skeletal system and describing its osteology, and streaming it all live on Twitch! Join me!
Meet the rarest fish in the world!
YouTube video by RealFishDoc
youtu.be
We are very excited to upgrade our tissue collections by getting them from -80 freezers into liquid nitrogen.
William B. Ludt, PhD@planet-of-fishes.bsky.social · last wk.The NHMLA is hiring an Assistant Collections Manager for updating our frozen tissues collection to liquid nitrogen storage. This position is grant-funded for 3 years. I'm a bit late on posting this, but there is still one week left to apply! workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
The NHMLA is hiring an Assistant Collections Manager for updating our frozen tissues collection to liquid nitrogen storage. This position is grant-funded for 3 years. I'm a bit late on posting this, but there is still one week left to apply! workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
Recruitment
workforcenow.adp.com
We're hiring a Curator of Marine Invertebrates either at the Assistant or Associate level. Please spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested. Applications due October 15th! workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
Recruitment
workforcenow.adp.com
This narwhal study on tusk structure is rad. It appears to twist one way but is actually a double helix? How do these things get even weirder?
The narwhal tusk assembles its macroscopic helix from building blocks with opposing twists - Nature Communications
Narwhal tusks are macroscopically helical and chiral. This structure originates from left- and right-handed helices of tusk nanostructural components. The double helix creates a straight, mechanically...
nature.com
X-rays add new twist to narwhal's spiral tusk. New study finds that the tusks have a double helix structure—not one but two spirals, twisting in opposite directions. arstechnica.com/science/2026...
X-rays add new twist to narwhal's spiral tusk
New study finds that the tusks have not one but two spirals, twisting in opposite directions.
arstechnica.com
Surgeonfishes are cool! Our Evolution paper now out in final form, the amazing patterns of change in fish shape and covariance (new method!) elegantly revealed by @linnealungstrom.bsky.social 🐟🐠🦑🌿 academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
Phylogenetics, trait covariance analysis, and the evolution of fin and body shape in the surgeonfishes
Abstract. Insights into ecomorphology are enriched when investigating evolutionary correlations between ecologically and functionally important traits. How
academic.oup.com
It's always a good practice to use the "stingray shuffle".
CSU COAST@csucoast.bsky.social · 4w agoHeading to the beach this weekend? 🏖️ You might want to brush up on your "stingray shuffle." With the recent marine heat wave hitting Southern California, Sting Rays have been spotted on #SoCalBeaches Thank you @ktla.com, full story: ktla.com/news/califor...
A hammerhead shark was recently filmed off the Malibu Pier. Likely here because of El Nino conditions. Likely the first of many rare fish sightings for the region. 🐟🦈 ktla.com/news/califor...
Rare hammerhead shark spotted next to Malibu Pier
A Los Angeles County fisherman captured video of a rare hammerhead shark sighting from the Malibu Pier Thursday afternoon. Video posted to the social media account @PIERMACKEREL shows the hammerhea…
ktla.com
Instead of doom scrolling this morning, I was fish scrolling. Cool resource!
Florida Museum of Natural History@floridamuseum.bsky.social · 4w agoMuseum Resource 🐠 Fish Families of the World Gallery NEW resource! Searchable gallery of fish families of the world, with photos of specimens, CT scans and 3D models, x-rays, and notes on characteristics, habitats, etc. Browse: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fis...
Prevalence of the parasitic copepod infection in British Columbia rockfishes and implications for rockfish life-history https://ow.ly/MW3W50Zn2NA 📈: cjfas-2025-0261 | Siegle et al.
Excited to share our new manuscript, where we show differences in acclimation to salinity fluctuations among neighboring populations of Gulf Killifish onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Neighboring Gulf Killifish (<fi>Fundulus grandis</fi>) Populations Differ in Their Plastic and Genetic Responses to Salinity Fluctuations
Coastal development can alter the salinity fluctuations experienced by tidal creek systems. Understanding how resident organisms, such as the Gulf killifish, respond to these changes is critical, as ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
🦈 Blue Dreamin’ … Brilliant encounters with Blue Sharks yesterday thanks to @celticdeep ! Here’s a quick snapshot of some of my favourite images! 💙 #blueshark #sharks #snorkelling #freediving #underwaterphotography
Daisy wishes she could roar. Alas, she is but a small cat. @nhm.org @kaycebell.bsky.social
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County@nhm.org · last mo.😸 Think you know your cats? Celebrate felines big and small with Dr. Kayce Bell, Associate Curator of Terrestrial Mammalogy, just in time for International Cat Day!
I watched The Exorcist: Believer under the mistaken impression that it would be a good horror flick #MovieSky #FilmSky
the exorcist believer
The Exorcist was a test of faith. Primarily of Father Damian, the conflicted priest at the heart of that stunning 1973 supernatural horror masterpiece. The Exorcist: Believer is a test of...
realfishdoc.com
😸 Think you know your cats? Celebrate felines big and small with Dr. Kayce Bell, Associate Curator of Terrestrial Mammalogy, just in time for International Cat Day!
BEHOLD. Meet Spea labreae, a new species of Ice Age Toad discovered at La Brea Tar Pits! The extinct species of burrowing frog helps us understand the impacts of climate change on species distributions, past, present, and future. go.nhm.org/ice-age-toad
Meet Spea labreae, a New Species of Ice Age Toad Discovered at La Brea Tar Pits
The first new extinct toad species and the first description of the Mexican burrowing toad at the Tar Pits help us understand the impacts of climate change on species distributions, past, present,…
go.nhm.org
The only OnlyFans account I've ever considered subscribing to www.latimes.com/california/s...
Marmots got money troubles: Cuts to UCLA research lead scientists to OnlyFans
A UCLA marmot lab has opened an OnlyFans account called OnlyMarms to raise funding for its research. So far, it's raised about $4,000.
latimes.com
Here's my review of Bull Shark, a very Texas shark movie that tries its best to punch above its $25,000 budget. They try to make the science kinda right in this one.
Bull Shark
The byline for the shark horror movie Bull Shark is "Everything is bigger in Texas", which doesn't apply to much about the film except how TEXAS the movie is. It's so TEXAS in fact that I'm going to.....
realfishdoc.com
There are a lot of bad shark movies out there. I've added a page to my website where I will review as many as I can bear to watch.
Sharks!
Streamer, movie watcher, book enjoyer, marine biologist, live from LA. RealFishDoc on Twitch.
realfishdoc.com
🎬🦈 For #SharkWeek2026, check out 'Fishes of the Red Carpet' by recent Scripps Oceanography grad and current master's student Claire Miller! Her project ranks shark movies on biology, scientific accuracy, conservation messaging and entertainment. 🍿🔗 https://bit.ly/4pLJyE3
This was an important test run for us. We have to drain the entire tank when we rehouse the specimen using only hand pumps, and we had no idea how long that would take. Now we have a better sense of how that will go.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County@nhm.org · last mo.🦈 In honor of #SharkWeek, get a rare look at the megamouth on view at NHM—the second ever discovered of this species! Get a sense of the preparation required when we eventually rehouse it in a brand-new tank later this year.
Is there a proper scientific term for a species known only from its holotype?
Sustained investment in specimen-based taxonomic research is key to moving towards effective conservation. iucn.org/news/202607/...
From collections to conservation: the indispensable role of natural history museums
The IUCN Species Survival Commission has published a Position Statement on the vital role of biological collections in biodiversity conservation: a formal acknowledgement that natural history museums,...
iucn.org
