Katie O'Reilly
@drkatfish.bsky.social
Aquatic Invasive Species with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant | #GreatLakes | Come for the #ecology & #scicomm, get reeled in by the fish puns
https://iiseagrant.org/about/our-team/katie-oreilly/
https://iiseagrant.org/about/our-team/katie-oreilly/
Pinned
That's a wrap on 2025's #25DaysofFishmas - the 10th year of #Fishmas silliness! Thanks to everyone who has followed along as we explored some of the amazing fish that call the US home.
From Atlantic to Pacific, there's a lot worth protecting - wishing everyone peace and renewal of hope for 2026.
From Atlantic to Pacific, there's a lot worth protecting - wishing everyone peace and renewal of hope for 2026.
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
'Twas the night before Fishmas, and all through the lakes...
Check out our whimsical remake of the classic holiday tale featuring Great Lakes fish 🐟
www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/12/18/i...
Check out our whimsical remake of the classic holiday tale featuring Great Lakes fish 🐟
www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/12/18/i...
I Speak for the Fish: ‘Twas the night before Fishmas - Great Lakes Now
A whimsical remake of the classic holiday tale ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas featuring the Spirit Sturgeon and other Great Lakes fish.
www.greatlakesnow.org
December 24, 2025 at 4:10 PM
'Twas the night before Fishmas, and all through the lakes...
Check out our whimsical remake of the classic holiday tale featuring Great Lakes fish 🐟
www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/12/18/i...
Check out our whimsical remake of the classic holiday tale featuring Great Lakes fish 🐟
www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/12/18/i...
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
For our final day of #25DaysOfFishmas, we're going full weird. Today's bizarre, lonely little fish is the needlebeard seadevil, Neoceratias spinifer. This prickly little lady is the only member of the family Neoceratiidae, nestling within the larger deep-sea anglefish order Ceratoidei.
December 25, 2025 at 9:53 AM
For our final day of #25DaysOfFishmas, we're going full weird. Today's bizarre, lonely little fish is the needlebeard seadevil, Neoceratias spinifer. This prickly little lady is the only member of the family Neoceratiidae, nestling within the larger deep-sea anglefish order Ceratoidei.
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
December 25, 2025 at 9:22 PM
get you family members who support/enable you #25DaysofFishmas
December 25, 2025 at 9:20 PM
get you family members who support/enable you #25DaysofFishmas
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
Thanks for all the informative & fun #Fishmas facts, @drkatfish.bsky.social. Science storytelling at its finest.
Here’s to a new year exploring creeks, lakes & rivers and working to conserve the diversity of freshwater fishes.
#25DaysofFishmas
Here’s to a new year exploring creeks, lakes & rivers and working to conserve the diversity of freshwater fishes.
#25DaysofFishmas
December 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Thanks for all the informative & fun #Fishmas facts, @drkatfish.bsky.social. Science storytelling at its finest.
Here’s to a new year exploring creeks, lakes & rivers and working to conserve the diversity of freshwater fishes.
#25DaysofFishmas
Here’s to a new year exploring creeks, lakes & rivers and working to conserve the diversity of freshwater fishes.
#25DaysofFishmas
That's a wrap on 2025's #25DaysofFishmas - the 10th year of #Fishmas silliness! Thanks to everyone who has followed along as we explored some of the amazing fish that call the US home.
From Atlantic to Pacific, there's a lot worth protecting - wishing everyone peace and renewal of hope for 2026.
From Atlantic to Pacific, there's a lot worth protecting - wishing everyone peace and renewal of hope for 2026.
December 25, 2025 at 9:12 PM
That's a wrap on 2025's #25DaysofFishmas - the 10th year of #Fishmas silliness! Thanks to everyone who has followed along as we explored some of the amazing fish that call the US home.
From Atlantic to Pacific, there's a lot worth protecting - wishing everyone peace and renewal of hope for 2026.
From Atlantic to Pacific, there's a lot worth protecting - wishing everyone peace and renewal of hope for 2026.
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
Sending you best fishes and all the wonder this time of year brings!
(The Aquarium is closed today but will be open for the rest of the holiday season!)
(The Aquarium is closed today but will be open for the rest of the holiday season!)
December 25, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Sending you best fishes and all the wonder this time of year brings!
(The Aquarium is closed today but will be open for the rest of the holiday season!)
(The Aquarium is closed today but will be open for the rest of the holiday season!)
The big day is finally here - and with it, a very big fish!
Our #25DaysofFishmas road trip ends on the East Coast with the ancient-looking Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus). Once close to becoming a Ghost of Fishmas Past, their ongoing recovery represents a possible brighter Fishmas Future
Our #25DaysofFishmas road trip ends on the East Coast with the ancient-looking Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus). Once close to becoming a Ghost of Fishmas Past, their ongoing recovery represents a possible brighter Fishmas Future
December 25, 2025 at 2:01 PM
The big day is finally here - and with it, a very big fish!
Our #25DaysofFishmas road trip ends on the East Coast with the ancient-looking Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus). Once close to becoming a Ghost of Fishmas Past, their ongoing recovery represents a possible brighter Fishmas Future
Our #25DaysofFishmas road trip ends on the East Coast with the ancient-looking Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus). Once close to becoming a Ghost of Fishmas Past, their ongoing recovery represents a possible brighter Fishmas Future
For context, carp is traditionally a popular Christmas Eve dish in parts of Central Europe, and people often keep them alive in bathtubs for a few days before the meal #25DaysofFishmas www.npr.org/sections/the...
December 25, 2025 at 12:03 AM
For context, carp is traditionally a popular Christmas Eve dish in parts of Central Europe, and people often keep them alive in bathtubs for a few days before the meal #25DaysofFishmas www.npr.org/sections/the...
Christmas Eve Checklist:
Wrapped presents ✅
Cookies for Santa ✅
Bathtub Carp ✅ (www.npr.org/sections/the...)
#25DaysofFishmas
Wrapped presents ✅
Cookies for Santa ✅
Bathtub Carp ✅ (www.npr.org/sections/the...)
#25DaysofFishmas
December 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Christmas Eve Checklist:
Wrapped presents ✅
Cookies for Santa ✅
Bathtub Carp ✅ (www.npr.org/sections/the...)
#25DaysofFishmas
Wrapped presents ✅
Cookies for Santa ✅
Bathtub Carp ✅ (www.npr.org/sections/the...)
#25DaysofFishmas
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
Our penultimate Lonely Fish for #25DaysOfFishmas is another quite cute one. This is Triodon macropterus, the threetooth puffer. The only member of the family Triodontidae, this species is found around the Indo-Pacific at depths between ~30 and 300m.
December 24, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Our penultimate Lonely Fish for #25DaysOfFishmas is another quite cute one. This is Triodon macropterus, the threetooth puffer. The only member of the family Triodontidae, this species is found around the Indo-Pacific at depths between ~30 and 300m.
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
Last fishmas
I gave you a shark
But the very next day
you gave me a ray
I gave you a shark
But the very next day
you gave me a ray
December 24, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Last fishmas
I gave you a shark
But the very next day
you gave me a ray
I gave you a shark
But the very next day
you gave me a ray
Shad tidings we bring to you and your fin! 🐟
Our #25DaysofFishmas road trip heads up the East Coast for a fish as American as apple pie - American Shad (Alosa sapidissima)! Known for their spawning runs, shad know that no matter how far away you roam, no trip could be too far when it comes to home
Our #25DaysofFishmas road trip heads up the East Coast for a fish as American as apple pie - American Shad (Alosa sapidissima)! Known for their spawning runs, shad know that no matter how far away you roam, no trip could be too far when it comes to home
December 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Shad tidings we bring to you and your fin! 🐟
Our #25DaysofFishmas road trip heads up the East Coast for a fish as American as apple pie - American Shad (Alosa sapidissima)! Known for their spawning runs, shad know that no matter how far away you roam, no trip could be too far when it comes to home
Our #25DaysofFishmas road trip heads up the East Coast for a fish as American as apple pie - American Shad (Alosa sapidissima)! Known for their spawning runs, shad know that no matter how far away you roam, no trip could be too far when it comes to home
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
A common problem sorting the true non-natives from other mechanisms. Very soon a paper from one of my grads on this! 🐟
There's some confusion whether ghost shiner is invasive in Ontario, as it was discovered there relatively recently (1972), is disjunct from other southern populations + is used as a baitfish. However, studies have suggested they're native but became isolated from other populations #25DaysofFishmas
December 23, 2025 at 5:47 PM
A common problem sorting the true non-natives from other mechanisms. Very soon a paper from one of my grads on this! 🐟
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
Using my stamps to make wrapping paper! Merry Fishmas everyone #fish #printmaking
December 23, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Using my stamps to make wrapping paper! Merry Fishmas everyone #fish #printmaking
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
For #Fishmas day 23,
We go sarcopterygian, with a small coelacanth from the Jurassic
From the Museum en Voie d'Illumination exhibition from last year at the MNHN Paris
We go sarcopterygian, with a small coelacanth from the Jurassic
From the Museum en Voie d'Illumination exhibition from last year at the MNHN Paris
December 23, 2025 at 6:02 PM
For #Fishmas day 23,
We go sarcopterygian, with a small coelacanth from the Jurassic
From the Museum en Voie d'Illumination exhibition from last year at the MNHN Paris
We go sarcopterygian, with a small coelacanth from the Jurassic
From the Museum en Voie d'Illumination exhibition from last year at the MNHN Paris
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
As we really enter the home straight for #25DaysOfFishmas, Day 23 brings us probably the cutest little monospecific family on our list. This is Capros aper, the boarfish, the only known member of the Caproidae.
December 23, 2025 at 10:21 AM
As we really enter the home straight for #25DaysOfFishmas, Day 23 brings us probably the cutest little monospecific family on our list. This is Capros aper, the boarfish, the only known member of the Caproidae.
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
Holiday travel snafu’s mean I am late with my #SundayFishSketch. Here is a merry and bright Dolly Varden for the last #25DaysOfFishmas riddle this year!
December 23, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Holiday travel snafu’s mean I am late with my #SundayFishSketch. Here is a merry and bright Dolly Varden for the last #25DaysOfFishmas riddle this year!
There’ll be scary ghost stories on Day 23 of #25DaysofFishmas - well, maybe not *that* scary! 👻
Call us Scrooge, because today we're visited by a Ghost of #Fishmas - a small, translucent minnow called the Ghost Shiner (Paranotropis buchanani) - as we continue exploring the Northeast + #GreatLakes
Call us Scrooge, because today we're visited by a Ghost of #Fishmas - a small, translucent minnow called the Ghost Shiner (Paranotropis buchanani) - as we continue exploring the Northeast + #GreatLakes
December 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
There’ll be scary ghost stories on Day 23 of #25DaysofFishmas - well, maybe not *that* scary! 👻
Call us Scrooge, because today we're visited by a Ghost of #Fishmas - a small, translucent minnow called the Ghost Shiner (Paranotropis buchanani) - as we continue exploring the Northeast + #GreatLakes
Call us Scrooge, because today we're visited by a Ghost of #Fishmas - a small, translucent minnow called the Ghost Shiner (Paranotropis buchanani) - as we continue exploring the Northeast + #GreatLakes
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
There are three of them, so they must be wise men, right? Or spirits? But not stooges. Definitely *not* stooges, okay?
White-eyed Moray (Gymnothorax thyrsoideus), Anilao
#Fishmas #MarineLife 🐟🌿
White-eyed Moray (Gymnothorax thyrsoideus), Anilao
#Fishmas #MarineLife 🐟🌿
December 23, 2025 at 1:26 AM
There are three of them, so they must be wise men, right? Or spirits? But not stooges. Definitely *not* stooges, okay?
White-eyed Moray (Gymnothorax thyrsoideus), Anilao
#Fishmas #MarineLife 🐟🌿
White-eyed Moray (Gymnothorax thyrsoideus), Anilao
#Fishmas #MarineLife 🐟🌿
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
For Day 22 of #25DaysOfFishmas we have one of my favourites from the whole list, another big, pelagic weirdo that I've been obsessed with for many years now. This is Luvaris imperialis, the Louvar, a rarely encountered oceanic beast found across the Indo-Pacific and in parts of the Atlantic.
December 22, 2025 at 10:51 AM
For Day 22 of #25DaysOfFishmas we have one of my favourites from the whole list, another big, pelagic weirdo that I've been obsessed with for many years now. This is Luvaris imperialis, the Louvar, a rarely encountered oceanic beast found across the Indo-Pacific and in parts of the Atlantic.
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
Dolly Varden line up below spawning salmon, picking off drifting eggs and chunks of salmon flesh.
A natural spectacle, and one of the best fly fishing experiences.
#25DaysofFishmas #flyfishing
A natural spectacle, and one of the best fly fishing experiences.
#25DaysofFishmas #flyfishing
December 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Dolly Varden line up below spawning salmon, picking off drifting eggs and chunks of salmon flesh.
A natural spectacle, and one of the best fly fishing experiences.
#25DaysofFishmas #flyfishing
A natural spectacle, and one of the best fly fishing experiences.
#25DaysofFishmas #flyfishing
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
Up close with lampreys at the Bonneville Dam’s fish viewing window.
Columbia River, Oregon.
#25DaysofFishmas
Columbia River, Oregon.
#25DaysofFishmas
December 22, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Up close with lampreys at the Bonneville Dam’s fish viewing window.
Columbia River, Oregon.
#25DaysofFishmas
Columbia River, Oregon.
#25DaysofFishmas
Reposted by Katie O'Reilly
Another week in review from #25DaysOfFishmas and today's #SundayFishSketch the Dolly Varden.
The Borax Lake Chub is sporting a Womderbread logo because it is a wonder fish!
The Borax Lake Chub is sporting a Womderbread logo because it is a wonder fish!
December 22, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Another week in review from #25DaysOfFishmas and today's #SundayFishSketch the Dolly Varden.
The Borax Lake Chub is sporting a Womderbread logo because it is a wonder fish!
The Borax Lake Chub is sporting a Womderbread logo because it is a wonder fish!
Day 22’s #25DaysofFishmas feature may look Grinchy, but don’t let that fool you!
We say “Oh, hi!” to the Northeast/Great Lakes region + the Ohio Lamprey (Ichthyomyzon bdellium), a parasitic native fish who may seem more suited for Halloween but is full of holiday spirit!
(and fish juice, probably)
We say “Oh, hi!” to the Northeast/Great Lakes region + the Ohio Lamprey (Ichthyomyzon bdellium), a parasitic native fish who may seem more suited for Halloween but is full of holiday spirit!
(and fish juice, probably)
December 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Day 22’s #25DaysofFishmas feature may look Grinchy, but don’t let that fool you!
We say “Oh, hi!” to the Northeast/Great Lakes region + the Ohio Lamprey (Ichthyomyzon bdellium), a parasitic native fish who may seem more suited for Halloween but is full of holiday spirit!
(and fish juice, probably)
We say “Oh, hi!” to the Northeast/Great Lakes region + the Ohio Lamprey (Ichthyomyzon bdellium), a parasitic native fish who may seem more suited for Halloween but is full of holiday spirit!
(and fish juice, probably)