GarLab
@garlab.bsky.social
🐟Conservation, research, and #SciComm 🐟Principal Investigator @solomonrdavid.bsky.social 🐟Co-authored by the #GarLab Team Views our own https://garlab.org
GARS can be indicators of river-floodplain restoration from Minnesota down to Mississippi and Louisiana! Thanks @alexlubben.bsky.social for joining us in the field with photojournalist Sophie Germer for this story @nolanews.bsky.social! bit.ly/4brAgY0 @garlab.bsky.social
Are Mississippi River restoration efforts working? Scientists say this fish could hold the answer.
They went 1,000 miles for one baby fish. Finding it means a Mississippi floodplain restoration is working.
bit.ly
TOMORROW: the @garlab.bsky.social team returns to the Alligator Gar Rodeo… yes, it’s a real thing, and we get lots of valuable data from it, also great SciComm/outreach opportunity (it will be our 4th rodeo *not our first rodeo 😅*) Stay tuned!
Believe it or not we have addressed this! Here you go: single gar = gar multiple gars, same species = garrison multiple gars, different species = garmada
Frank Hogan@charleyphogg.bsky.social · 5d agoA group of Gar can not be called a school it’s not tough enough
Alligator Gars serving as indicators of Mississippi River floodplain health and restoration! Floodplains are vital to aquatic ecosystem function, and also mitigate floods in places we don’t want them (like residential areas). www.nfwf.org/media-center...
Giving alligator gar a lifeline in the Lower Mississippi River
At dawn, the woods are hushed and damp. River water meanders between towering trees, and a long shadow glides just beneath the surface. A flash of silver breaches the surface before sliding back into ...
nfwf.org
A native fish species is eating some of the most damaging invasive species in the Great Lakes…AND making a significant impact! Freshwater Drum: The overlooked native fish that has been crushing trillions of Zebra & Quagga Mussels in Lake Erie www.canr.msu.edu/news/freshwa...
Used this image in a paleontology conference talk, but it’s honestly how I feel/what I recall every time I’m next to one of these living fossils. Sam Neil’s portrayal of that childhood fascination, I have no words 🥹
Dr. Solomon David@solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 3w agoNo, Sam Neill. Great actor across many roles, but the life he brought to the scientist who taught, learned, and cared for others in Jurassic Park will always be treasured by this kid who recorded that trailer on VHS and wore it out until June 11, 1993. RIP🦖 www.bbc.com/news/live/cr...
“Intergarlactic” Check out some Shortnose Gars from the Minnesota River during @garlab.bsky.social native fish research! @lollardfish.bsky.social & @noorwrites.bsky.social joined us that day too!
Electrofishing to study Minnesota’s native rough fish! Video by @noorwrites.bsky.social @startribune.com accompanying @lollardfish.bsky.social’s story on @garlab.bsky.social conservation research! Story Link: www.startribune.com/fishing-angl...
Look, I may have just had a 9.5% tall boy as I finish up some work -- which may explain my last skeet being a Fresh Prince rap about lightning bugs -- but you can *feel* the love and respect Solomon and his team have for these animals in these photos.
Dr. Solomon David@solomonrdavid.bsky.social · last mo.From the GARgantuan to the handheld! Over the past 8 months we’ve encountered our largest gar (Alligator Gar in October) to one of the smallest (Shortnose Gar, today). My hand for “scale.”
From the GARgantuan to the handheld! Over the past 8 months we’ve encountered our largest gar (Alligator Gar in October) to one of the smallest (Shortnose Gar, today). My hand for “scale.”
Native rough fish story by @lollardfish.bsky.social in today’s Star Tribune! Like our favorite living fossils, PRINT media is persistent and probably even more relevant in these AI times 📰👍
David M. Perry@lollardfish.bsky.social · 2mo agoThanks to @bsky.app, I met @solomonrdavid.bsky.social, visited his lab, read some journal articles, went out and did some fieldwork with him on a boat, and now have written this article. Takeaway: Ancient fish are cool. Science is cool. Public institutions should do cool ancient fish science. (gift)
Native fish species like gar, buffalo, and redhorse could be killed en masse with no consequences, labeled "rough fish" for not being a "game fish" star like a walleye. For the first time, Minnesota is imposing bag limits and funding conservation research. minnesotareformer.com/2026/06/22/t...
Trash fish? More like some of the oldest — and most important — species in Minnesota • Minnesota Reformer
Until recently, these species were all classified as “rough fish,” or “trash fish.” None of them had limits or protections, and due to an outdated, frontier mentality toward wildlife in the water, the...
minnesotareformer.com
gar. i’m getting into gar. @garlab.bsky.social has given me a fever and the only cure is more facts about ancient fish
Parked my butt on a little microsite thats pooping out a bunch of small stuff. SO MANY FISH BITS including gar and a bunch of freshwater ones I can't identify.
Native rough fish research enlists Minnesota anglers www.outdoornews.com/2026/06/25/n... Story in Outdoor News (print too!) about @garlab.bsky.social collaboration with citizen science anglers and @bellmuseum.bsky.social for native fish outreach & conservation! By Justin Runberg
I'm really happy about this. Also a great video of Solomon doing fieldwork in the story, from @noorwrites.bsky.social, who came along with me and put together this great explainer video. Just a delight in the whole process.
This from @frankbures.bsky.social was published the same day as mine from @minnesotareformer.com and is more about the fishing and discusses the enemy to conservation and is a lovely piece.
Trash fish? More like some of the oldest — and most important — species in Minnesota. • Minnesota Reformer
Until recently, these species were all classified as “rough fish,” or “trash fish.” None of them had limits or protections, and due to an outdated, frontier mentality toward wildlife in the water, the...
minnesotareformer.com
David M. Perry@lollardfish.bsky.social · 2mo agoThanks to @bsky.app, I met @solomonrdavid.bsky.social, visited his lab, read some journal articles, went out and did some fieldwork with him on a boat, and now have written this article. Takeaway: Ancient fish are cool. Science is cool. Public institutions should do cool ancient fish science. (gift)
Thanks to @bsky.app, I met @solomonrdavid.bsky.social, visited his lab, read some journal articles, went out and did some fieldwork with him on a boat, and now have written this article. Takeaway: Ancient fish are cool. Science is cool. Public institutions should do cool ancient fish science. (gift)
Perry: Minnesota waters are full of ancient fish ― and the science behind them is pretty cool
Contributing columnist David M. Perry joined the U’s GarLab team on an electrofishing expedition June 15 to learn more about gar and other native rough fish species.
startribune.com
the gar genuinely born in the algae and molded by it in the reflecting pool is honestly one of the funnier crossovers between dc villains and aquatic biology this year
“The Reflecting Pool merely adopted the algae, Gar was born in it, molded by it”
I'm sure that @garlab.bsky.social will be putting forth a competing proposal.
David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈@whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 2mo agoThank you for coming The plan is to make the Reflecting Pool full of saltwater and then fill it with sharks. This will cost millions of dollars and will not really help anything other than putting some sharks closer to where I live. I will not be taking questions at this time.
As an angler I had been vaguely following the native rough fish work happening in the state, but it was through bluesky that I got to know about the garlab, and things went from there.
Yesterday a colleague from the Strib and I went electro fishing for gar with @solomonrdavid.bsky.social and his team. Story coming next week I expect. But this happened because Bluesky connects people.
Check out this Minnesota crossover (on the Minnesota River) today! @lollardfish.bsky.social x @garlab.bsky.social 😎👍
