Really cool colony form on this lace bryozoan I found under a ledge on a reef in Boracay, Philippines. #invertebrates

The animal on the left is a nudibranch sea slug (Phyllidia sp.) but the one on the left is a mimic. It's actually a juvenile sea cucumber! #sluglife #invertebrates Photos were taken in Boracay, Philippines.

There is a proposal to build a marina that will likely ruin one of the very best shore diving locations in Florida, the Blue Heron Bridge. Here is a petition to try to stop it: c.org/xgB2TjwJ7h

Sign the Petition

Preserve the Blue Heron Bridge Dive Site: Protect Phil Foster Park’s Marine ecosystem!

c.org

We have a visiting teaching line in the Biology Department at the University of Tampa. We are hiring soon so apply now if you are interested: #academicsky

Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor

If you are a current University of Tampa student, please search for and apply to student jobs here via Workday. Job applications for current students will not be considered if submitted through the ex...

utampa.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

I have an entire dive resort to myself in the Philippines!

Last month I was in Iceland and I tried to do some tidepooling, but I kept getting attacked by the arctic terns nesting nearby! Here are a few of the cool inverts I was able to find on some boulders when the tide was low. #invertebrates

Just spent 30 minutes and ~$20 getting my boarding pass reissued from Philippines Airlines because it didn't have the "Jr" on it. (There is not a spot for it on their website). Moral: Don't add a suffix to your children's names.

One of the coolest things I found on the Great Barrier Reef was a soft coral that had these interesting benthic ctenophores on it. I have never seen this species before! #combjelly #invertebrates #ctenophore

Wow, I got an e-mail from Skin Care Awards letting me know that my recent article on a sea slug microbiome has been selected for the best researcher award. I'm sure that's not a scam...

My latest sea slug article is out today on the microbiome of the sacoglossan Elysia papillosa. www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16... #sluglife

🦑🌎Imagine if the media covered The Gulf of Mexico’s algal “dead zone” as enthusiastically as it covers the algae in an 18-inch-deep reflecting pool.

My university published a short article about my Coral Reefs course! www.ut.edu/news-and-uta...

Conchs are probably the cutest snails and this juvenile conch I found on a night dive on the Great Barrier Reef extra adorable. I love those eyes! #snail #invertebrates #conch

I taught Invertebrate Zoology at New College one semester before I landed a full time professor position in Tampa. It was a very special place. It is an absolute shame what Ron DeSantis did to it. youtu.be/jFMc07F1UUU?...

New College of Florida: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

youtu.be

Some of my favorite slugs I saw while teaching my Coral Reefs course last month on the Great Barrier Reef. #invertebrate #sluglife #nudibranch

Mollusc Mix: Great Barrier Reef Edition (mostly slugs of course). These were a few of the wonderful molluscs I filmed while teaching my Coral Reefs travel course in Cairns, Australia. Music: Djapana by Yothu Yindi 🦑 #invertebrates #nudibranch #sluglife

Don't miss your last chance to submit your abstract to gigavi.org! Abstracts are due May 15, 2026. The conference runs July 6-10 in Boracay, Philippines. We hope you can join us! #invertebrates #genomics #conference

Lots of people have reached out asking how they can support us after the devastating fire in the MSL building, the heart of @cmarinescience.bsky.social Here’s one way, a GoFundMe organized by our graduate students - gofund.me/4373c6ff3. Please share widely, and thanks for helping our community!

Donate to USF Marine Science: Fire Recovery Support, organized by Bella Iannotta

On Saturday, May 2nd the University of South Florida Marine Science Lab (MSL)… Bella Iannotta needs your support for USF Marine Science: Fire Recovery Support

gofund.me

I'm about to spend a lot of time this summer on airplanes and waiting in airports, I need some book recommendations! I prefer fun/interesting fiction books for my summer reading (scifi, mystery, eco/climate fiction, and especially any books that will make me laugh).

Abstract submissions for GIGAIV close this Friday! Don't forget to send in your abstract: gigavi.org

Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance VI

Global Invertebrate Genome Alliance VI, July 2026, Philippines

gigavi.org

We are pleased to introduce Molluscan Horizons, a diamond open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal born from a joint effort of Latin American malacological societies, led and funded by the Brazilian Society of Malacology. To learn more, please visit our website: www.molluscanhorizons.org

The abstract deadline for GIGA VI is just a few weeks away! Submit your abstract and register to join us in Boracay, Philippines to learn all about cutting edge Invertebrate Genomic Research. gigavi.org

Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance VI

Global Invertebrate Genome Alliance VI, July 2026, Philippines

gigavi.org

Really good tardigrade culture in the Invertebrate teaching lab today! #invertebrates #tardigrades

Break up all of the monopolies. www.npr.org/2026/04/15/n...

Jury finds that Live Nation acted as a monopoly and overcharged ticket buyers

An antitrust suit alleged that the company unfairly controlled too much of the live music industry at the expense of venues, artists and fans. The decision could reshape the industry.

npr.org

The Bailey-Mathews Shell Museum has a job opening for Science Director and Curator! #mollusc #academicsky shellmuseum.org/careers-inte...

The Florida Association of Aquatic Biologists has an upcoming taxonomic workshop on leeches, May 5-7 in Gainesville Florida! www.floridaaquaticbiologists.org/events.html

I'm quoted in this fun article in Smithsonian Magazine. It's sea slug science meets science fiction. One of my photographs is also featured in it. #sluglife #scifi

These Sea Slugs Can 'Eat' Sunlight—but They're No Astrophage. Here's How the 'Project Hail Mary' Antagonist Has a Real-Life Analogue in Earth's Oceans

By snatching chloroplasts from algae, animals called sacoglossans produce their own energy through photosynthesis

smithsonianmag.com

Green slugs for St. Patrick's Day! Elysia chlorotica, sometimes known as the Eastern Emerald Elysia, is one of my favorite slugs. They can photosynthesize for many months by stealing chloroplasts from the algae that they eat in a process called kleptoplasty. #sluglife

We have a new chromosomal genome out for the lettuce slug, Elysia crispata, in Wellcome Open Research! It's an open publishing model published prior to peer review (like a preprint) and I love my slug photo in it. Looking forward to the reviews. wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/11-... #sluglife

Looking for some ideas on ID for this? We found a bunch of them attached to a sea slug. My guess is Licnophora (?) but this is really not my area. Any help would be appreciated! This is 400x magnification #protozoa #protistsky #microscope #id #ciliate