Taya de Blonk
@evolutionoftaya.bsky.social
evolution, parental care, reproduction, genetics, systematics, ichthyology 👩🏻💻🧬 NCSU MEAS PhD student in the NC Fish Lab 🐟🐠🌎
The amount of connections to scientists working in the field of genomics that I'm finding in the Epstein emails is terrifying, disgusting, and sadly unsurprising We need to deeply investigate how much these scientists actually knew, or how much they were involved There need to be consequences
🐸 🐟 Crikey! Wednesday again already, time for my “wind-back Wednesday” post! An absolute cracker of a #Frogfish I think these are incredible, they can take some spotting too amongst the reef! 📍 Philippines, 2010. 📸 Panasonic. 🤿 🌊 #scubadiving #underwaterphotography #wildlifewednesday #marinelife
As we all settle back in at home after an amazing #ssb2026 in Baton Rouge, it seems fitting to share this recent pub from @mbomaaaron.bsky.social where he writes about the utility of taxonomic education. Aaron was a @systbiol.bsky.social mentee and so it is very exciting to see this work of his out!
Aaron Mboma@mbomaaaron.bsky.social · 8mo agoI'm happy to announce that my paper, which makes a case for the enduring utility of taxonomy in biological research, has officially been published (open access). Gratitude to my mentor @oschwery.bsky.social who took time to read the initial drafts. qubeshub.org/community/gr...
Washington banned octopus farming in 2024, but a new bill is making its way through the Legislature that would also ban the sale, possession, transport and distribution of farmed octopus. The aim isn't to outlaw the culinary use of octopus, proponents say, but to ensure it is treated humanely.
Washington may ban sales of farmed octopus
After stalling in the last session, a bill to outlaw the sale, possession, transport, and distribution of farmed octopus advanced out of committee this week on a party-line vote.
opb.org
Frontiers | Spawning patterns and reproductive biology of yellowtail scad (Trachurus novaezelandiae) off south-eastern Australia www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.... 🧪🐠🦑🌎
Frontiers | Spawning patterns and reproductive biology of yellowtail scad (Trachurus novaezelandiae) off south-eastern Australia
We characterized the reproductive biology of the ecologically and commercially important small pelagic fish Trachurus novaezelandiae (yellowtail scad) in sou...
frontiersin.org
“What would our world look like if all natural history collections disappeared?” Loved #SSB2026! Organized by @jembrown.bsky.social. Great workshops, talks, panel discussion, and collections tours, plus an awesome social hosted by @prosanta.bsky.social. Great to meet some more fishy folks as well 🐠
Actual botanists don't feel like they need to lie to their neighbors about their jobs.
Gabe Ortíz@tusk81.bsky.social · 7mo ago“Minneapolis ICE shooter told longtime neighbor he was a botanist,” @people.com reports. "He said he worked with plants, as a botanist, so he lied about what he did," she said. people.com/ice-agent-jo...
The great @jembrown.bsky.social closing out #ssb2026 It was a wonderful meeting thanks to the hardwork of Jeremy and funding from @lsu.bsky.social and other sources. Systematic biology is alive and well. Especially proud of all the Global South who attended.
I’m so proud of @lsu.bsky.social Museum of Natural Science and @tropicalbotany.bsky.social Herbarium folks who volunteered for these tours to over 100 folks - I’m sure they won’t forget what they saw behind the scenes. #museums #naturalhistory #ssb2026
Jeremy M. Brown@jembrown.bsky.social · 7mo agoMuseum and Herbarium tours are now underway. Next bus will depart around 5:00 PM. All tours should finish by 7:15 and Biodiversity Trivia Night will start at 7:30. #SSB2026 @systbiol.bsky.social
The wonderful Emily Graslie talking to the #SSB2026 crowd about the importance of natural history museums. She has an art background and became enamored with the University of Montana natural history collections and created the #brainscoop series.
The American Fisheries Society extends our support to the furloughed fisheries and aquatics professionals affected by the U.S. federal government shutdown. Read our full statement on the shutdown and its impacts on natural resources here fisheries.org/2025/10/afs-...
This week, Alanna talks to Dr. Jessie Kittel, a research scientist at the Blue World Research Institute. Jessie's research using modeling techniques has varied from humpback whales to yellowtail flounder. Jessie is also a 100-ton captain!
Quote of the Day, as found in "Comparative Vertebrate and Human Anatomy: Ecology, Evolution, and Function" pressbooks.palni.org/comparativev... Check it out - looks great! #EndlessFishMostBeautiful
“We are undergoing unprecedented loss of freshwater across the planet.” And need new leadership yesterday. :/ www.newscientist.com/article/2490...
We are undergoing unprecedented loss of freshwater across the planet
Rising temperatures are causing water to evaporate and driving humans to extract more groundwater, which is moving freshwater from the land to the seas and creating a "continental drying" trend
newscientist.com
NEMO! (a clownfish) with lil cymothoid isopod friend! Lembeh Photo by Dave Johnson Photography www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=4...
Every fish that we catch has a story, some are crazier than others. We caught this unicornfish during a night dive in Okinawa last year. The trip was memorable because we had to end the dive early when North Korea fired a missile in our general direction and we had to take cover
July Editor's Choice article: "Parental care drives the evolution of male reproductive accessory glands across ray-finned fishes" Lucas Eckert, Jessica S Miller, John L Fitzpatrick, Sigal Balshine, Benjamin M Bolker academic.oup.com/evolut/artic... @lucaseckert.bsky.social @bbolker.bsky.social
New paper alert: 42 ecological traits for all 6,000+ valid species of #Neotropical_freshwater_fishes, the most diverse continental vertebrate fauna on Earth. A foundation for future studies on the ecology and conservation of tropical aquatic biodiversity. nature.com/articles/s41...
An (omics) perspective on the evolution of vision in deep-sea fishes reveals exceptional adaptations to life in the extreme Musilova & Cortesi 2025 Functional Ecology besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec... #ichthyology #teamfish neat review of genetics of deep-sea vision in fishes
Pseudojuloides edwardi Quite possibly the most beautiful wrasse in existence
Have you ever seen a juvenile Buffalo Trunkfish (Lactophrys trigonus)? I absolutely love their weird skeleton which forms this bony carapace making their body rigid.
Two new studfish! Thanks to the Sandel Lab for letting me tag along :) www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...
Phylogenomic species delimitation of studfishes (Fundulidae: Fundulus ): evidence for cryptic species in agreement with the central highlands vicariance hypothesis | Zootaxa
mapress.com
Life in emergent freshwater marshes. For my forthcoming book "PONDS: An Illustrated Guide," Yale University Press, 2026. 🧪🌿🌎 #sciart #wildlife #scicomm #sciviz #wildlifeart #iNat #scientificillustration #natureart #visualscicomm #sciviz #scicomm #marshes #freshwater #wetlands
1/11 New #OpenAccess #anglerfish paper in @plosone.org! We combine genomic, mitochondrial, and morphological data to produce the most complete evolutionary hypothesis for anglerfishes! Includes new body shape, habitat analyses, and a new frogfish subfamily) 🦑 doi.org/10.1371/jour...
A total-evidence phylogenetic approach to understanding the evolution, depth transitions, and body-shape changes in the anglerfishes and allies (Acanthuriformes: Lophioidei)
The anglerfishes and allies (Lophioidei) are a diverse group of fishes with over 400 carnivorous species that are renowned for their remarkable hunting behavior employing a modified first dorsal-fin s...
doi.org
Black background fish photography are MY NACHOS.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the Emerald Bowfin!☘️🐟 From the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, few freshwater fishes are as festive as male bowfins! Their bellies and fins turn bright green during spawning season (right now in parts of their range!)🌎 *Gulf of MEXICO.
We granted 8 microgrants totalling £1295! 🥳🥳🥳 Our next funding round will open for applications on 26th May. Thank you to all our donors for making this possible!! 🫶
