📖 Published📖 The superposition method for the reconstruction of food webs 🕸️ 🧪 🌏️ besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The superposition method for the reconstruction of food webs
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Dr. John Hlavin
@marinebiojohn.bsky.social
🦈 Eckerd College Asst Prof of Marine Science 🔱 scapelab.eckerd.edu 👨🏻🔬 dr.johnhlavin.com 🦦 Monterey Bay Aquarium Ambassador
A fish hideout you can't unsee, via @drcatmac.bsky.social @emilyyeager9.bsky.social @mantatrust.bsky.social and Marine Megafauna Foundation.
The Ocean’s weirdest pit stops: Scientists discover remoras hiding inside manta rays
Researchers documented remora fish diving into the cloacas and gill cavities of manta rays, revealing a bizarre marine behavior
news.miami.edu
My (future) department at Eckerd College is hiring again this upcoming cycle: tenure-track Assistant Professor of Marine Science focusing on marine mammalogy 🐬🐋🦦🦭 eckerd.exacthire.com/job/198479
Eckerd College
eckerd.exacthire.com
Biologist @flammanglab.bsky.social at NJIT studies remoras & had some thoughts on their butt-hitchhiking (a hyphenate I've never typed before, but biology is full of surprises), saying that it might be because remoras are territorial & coprophagic (poop eaters) but mostly they're just big weirdos 🧪
Suckerfish Are Disappearing into Manta Rays' Rear Ends. Researchers Say They’re ‘Just That Weird’
Suckerfish, also known as remoras, have been observed diving into manta rays’ rear ends seven times over the past 15 years.
people.com
In part, we wanted to invite people to get curious. Look at the weird stuff this fish is doing! Why is it doing that?! This is a paper I would absolutely love to talk to your eight-year-old about. So reminder: although science is serious and important, it’s also often incredibly weird and fun.
Hiding in Plain Sight: Evidence of Echeneidae Cloacal and Gill Diving Behavior in Manta Ray Hosts
Here we document seven observations of Echeneidae cloacal diving behavior in manta rays and one observation of gill attachment behavior. These observations span all three currently described species ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
My amazing PhD student @emilyyeager9.bsky.social has a new paper out today on a behavior by remoras we have called “cloaca diving,” which makes for a lot of light-hearted content (fish going up manta ray butts will do that). It was an incredibly weird and fun paper to support her in writing.
Looking for some weird science to brighten your Monday? Check out our new paper on remora cloacal diving behavior in manta rays published today in Ecology and Evolution! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Hiding in Plain Sight: Evidence of Echeneidae Cloacal and Gill Diving Behavior in Manta Ray Hosts
Here we document seven observations of Echeneidae cloacal diving behavior in manta rays and one observation of gill attachment behavior. These observations span all three currently described species ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Interesting! We also observed this behaviour in 2017 in French Polynesia! But we were not able to publish it. It means that this behaviour is widespread across oceans! See below our observation:
Emily Yeager@emilyyeager9.bsky.social · 4mo agoLooking for some weird science to brighten your Monday? Check out our new paper on remora cloacal diving behavior in manta rays published today in Ecology and Evolution! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
The practice of “cloacal diving” could help remoras hide from predators—it could also be a feeding strategy or help the fish hitchhike
Sucker fish are hiding in manta rays’ ‘butthole,’ new study reveals
The practice of “cloacal diving” could help remoras hide from predators—it could also be a feeding strategy or help the fish hitchhike
scientificamerican.com
So, uh. Sometimes, when a remora gets scared... It hides inside a manta ray's butt. Science 🧪 by @emilyyeager9.bsky.social @drcatmac.bsky.social, with a healthy HT to @whysharksmatter.bsky.social! www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/s...
A Fish That Hitches Rides Where the Sun Doesn’t Shine
nytimes.com
God forbid a manta ray have hobbies
Jason GRIZZLED Bittel@bittelmethis.bsky.social · 4mo agoSo, uh. Sometimes, when a remora gets scared... It hides inside a manta ray's butt. Science 🧪 by @emilyyeager9.bsky.social @drcatmac.bsky.social, with a healthy HT to @whysharksmatter.bsky.social! www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/s...
🎵 when a fish needs a ride in a manta ray's backside, that's remora!!! 🎵
Jason GRIZZLED Bittel@bittelmethis.bsky.social · 4mo agoSo, uh. Sometimes, when a remora gets scared... It hides inside a manta ray's butt. Science 🧪 by @emilyyeager9.bsky.social @drcatmac.bsky.social, with a healthy HT to @whysharksmatter.bsky.social! www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/s...
But seriously though I have seen a lot of crazy images in my career, representing a lot of crazy animal behaviors. This is the one that made me yelp the loudest when I first saw it.
Jason GRIZZLED Bittel@bittelmethis.bsky.social · 4mo agoSo, uh. Sometimes, when a remora gets scared... It hides inside a manta ray's butt. Science 🧪 by @emilyyeager9.bsky.social @drcatmac.bsky.social, with a healthy HT to @whysharksmatter.bsky.social! www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/s...
🚨New 🦈 paper🚨 by Jack Elstner and team shows how nursery associated white sharks around San Diego responded to an anomalous tropical storm. Add extreme weather to the lengthy list of dynamic drivers of shark nursery function ⛈️ doi.org/10.1186/s404...
A rare tropical storm event drives partial nursery evacuation by juvenile white sharks, followed by rapid aggregation reformation - Movement Ecology
Movement Ecology - Extreme weather events, such as tropical storms, can pose profound disruption to nearshore marine environments. Although coastal ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to storm...
doi.org
Horrible, horrible news out of USF marine lab. Thankfully, no one is believed to be injured. But the fire today likely "total loss" -- thinking of all our colleagues who are grappling with the loss of their labs, gear, samples, and their research "home" 🐟🌍🌊🐙 www.tampabay.com/news/educati...
Fire breaks out at USF St. Pete Marine Science Lab. Building likely ‘total loss’
More than 60 units and 200 firefighters were called to the scene.
tampabay.com
Very excited to announce that I successfully defended my PhD yesterday! Immensely grateful for @drcatmac.bsky.social for being the most incredible and supportive advisor that any grad student could hope for. They say an advisor makes or breaks the grad school experience, safe to say she made mine
🚨NEW🐠PAPER🚨 The fine-scale ecological data needed to identify marine nurseries are a luxury not affordable across all management or conservation contexts. Here we propose a decision-based tool to facilitate precautionary nursery identification and management! Open access! doi.org/10.3389/fmar...
Frontiers | A decision tree to guide precautionary and adaptive tiering in marine nursery identification and management
Many marine species depend on nurseries during early life stages to promote growth and increase survival to maturity, supporting stock replenishment and stab...
doi.org
The final chapter of my PhD is published in Journal of Experimental Biology! And, we got the cover! We used biologgers to estimate great hammerheads' temperature “sweet spot.” We saw they can perform well at a range of temps, which supports observations from the field. (1/2) 🌊🦑🧪🐟
Global analysis shows vessel traffic can disrupt behavior, communication, and stress physiology in marine megafauna, with potential long-term effects on population trends and conservation status. doi.org/hbqm4z
Boat traffic alters marine megafauna behavior, stress and population trends, global analysis finds
A new study provides a comprehensive global synthesis of how vessel traffic affects large marine wildlife, including whales, dolphins, seals, manatees, sea turtles, sharks and rays.
phys.org
⚠️NO WAKE SCROLL ZONE⚠️ 🚤Proceed reading at idle speed⛴️ New meta-analysis from @juliasaltzman.bsky.social untangles the effects of vessel disturbance on marine megafauna, published open access in npj Ocean Sustainability! doi.org/10.1038/s441...
Charting the course for management: a global analysis of effects of vessels on marine megafauna - npj Ocean Sustainability
npj Ocean Sustainability - Charting the course for management: a global analysis of effects of vessels on marine megafauna
doi.org
ICYMI (it being my most recent research publication) ⬇️
Science X / Phys.org@sciencex.bsky.social · 7mo agoJuvenile Atlantic nurse sharks in Biscayne Bay exhibit faster growth and reach smaller maximum sizes compared to those in Bimini, highlighting distinct population traits in nearby habitats. doi.org/hbmq5f
Another new publication! Congrats @juliasaltzman.bsky.social
Dr. John Hlavin@marinebiojohn.bsky.social · 8mo ago🚨NEW 🐟 PAPER 🚨 On this episode of unusual animal friends… @juliasaltzman.bsky.social was in the right place at the right time to record and generate an ethogram of a stingray-cobia pair, an interaction fishers have relied on to find and sight-fish for cobia! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🚨NEW 🐟 PAPER 🚨 On this episode of unusual animal friends… @juliasaltzman.bsky.social was in the right place at the right time to record and generate an ethogram of a stingray-cobia pair, an interaction fishers have relied on to find and sight-fish for cobia! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Behavioral Evidence of Predator–Predator Commensalism: Cobia Track and Feed on Prey Disturbed by Southern Stingrays
We documented a novel predator–predator commensal foraging interaction between cobia (Rachycentron canadum) and a southern stingray (Hypanus americanus) in a shallow coastal habitat of Biscayne Bay, ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Check out our new publication on the growth rates and habitat use of nurse sharks in Biscayne Bay, FL compared to nearby Bimini, Bahamas which came out today (open access) in Environmental Biology of Fishes! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Is the seagrass greener on the other side? Faster growth in Biscayne Bay, Florida’s nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) compared to neighboring conspecifics of Bimini, The Bahamas - Environmental Bi...
Effective management of vulnerable species requires a precise understanding of life history. In 2024, Fadool et al. published the first von Bertalanffy growth model for the nurse shark (Ginglymostoma ...
link.springer.com
🚨New 🦈 paper🚨 Who would have thought that only 80 km of separation across the Straits of Florida would be enough to create significant differences in age and growth of Atlantic nurse sharks? Well… now us! Curious? Open access article linked below link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Is the seagrass greener on the other side? Faster growth in Biscayne Bay, Florida’s nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) compared to neighboring conspecifics of Bimini, The Bahamas - Environmental Bi...
Effective management of vulnerable species requires a precise understanding of life history. In 2024, Fadool et al. published the first von Bertalanffy growth model for the nurse shark (Ginglymostoma ...
link.springer.com
New Manta paper!!! Congrats and great work, Emily! 🥳 Open access and linked below doi.org/10.1007/s002...
Stability and spatial variance of Mobula yarae-associated fish aggregates in South Florida - Marine Biology
Despite their importance to organismal and ecosystem function, symbiotic associations in marine environments are often poorly understood. In the case of manta rays, casual and temporary associations w...
doi.org
Emily Yeager@emilyyeager9.bsky.social · 8mo agoI’m so pleased to share that the second chapter of my dissertation was just published open access in Marine Biology!
#AES25 #JMIH25 Finally, @marinebiojohn.bsky.social John Hlavin, Reconstructing diets of Tiger Sharks in South FL
@marinebiojohn.bsky.social at #JMIH25 #AES25 A multi-method approach can help determine the diet of tiger sharks, different methods have pros and cons. Includes data from 67 Tiger sharks- I think I helped get data on 6 of these!
Whoa- @marinebiojohn.bsky.social found *cow* and *pig* among tiger shark diet. (He thinks they were bait in lobster and crab traps)