Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️⚧️
@aquaticenby.bsky.social
Nonbinary by birth (they/them) 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
Aquatic ecologist by profession 🐟🐠🐡
Kind by choice
Fisheries, human impacts, sustainability, all things water
Currently studying how environmental stressors affect aquatic-terrestrial linkages in Germany 🇩🇪
Aquatic ecologist by profession 🐟🐠🐡
Kind by choice
Fisheries, human impacts, sustainability, all things water
Currently studying how environmental stressors affect aquatic-terrestrial linkages in Germany 🇩🇪
Reductions in body size also result in lower reproductive rates since female fecundity in fishes is related to body size. This means a 20lb red snapper in the 1960s could produce more eggs than the average 1lb fish today. Fisheries are essential, but they also have several issues to solve
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November 21, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Reductions in body size also result in lower reproductive rates since female fecundity in fishes is related to body size. This means a 20lb red snapper in the 1960s could produce more eggs than the average 1lb fish today. Fisheries are essential, but they also have several issues to solve
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It isn't just changes in body size. It turns out this starts a positive feedback loop that becomes extremely hard to overcome. Once fish start shrinking, they aren't likely to stop. This is complicated and best explained by a resource like the paper below:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
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pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
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November 21, 2025 at 12:41 PM
It isn't just changes in body size. It turns out this starts a positive feedback loop that becomes extremely hard to overcome. Once fish start shrinking, they aren't likely to stop. This is complicated and best explained by a resource like the paper below:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
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pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
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The collapse of the Baltic cod fishery is partly due to this reduction in size. But these effects can also occur in fish that aren't being directly targeted. Atlantic croaker are commonly caught as bycatch in shrimp trawls. They now reach sexual maturity at smaller and smaller sizes
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November 21, 2025 at 12:41 PM
The collapse of the Baltic cod fishery is partly due to this reduction in size. But these effects can also occur in fish that aren't being directly targeted. Atlantic croaker are commonly caught as bycatch in shrimp trawls. They now reach sexual maturity at smaller and smaller sizes
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Baltic cod are probably the biggest example of this phenomenon. In the past, such as this photo taken in 1987, Baltic cod grew to over a meter in length. Intense fishing pressure has led to them becoming smaller and smaller, and today an adult cod can fit on a dinner plate
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November 21, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Baltic cod are probably the biggest example of this phenomenon. In the past, such as this photo taken in 1987, Baltic cod grew to over a meter in length. Intense fishing pressure has led to them becoming smaller and smaller, and today an adult cod can fit on a dinner plate
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Except functionally these are still essentially the same. Small individual differences, but the same reasoning behind each
November 15, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Except functionally these are still essentially the same. Small individual differences, but the same reasoning behind each
I'd have to do a lot deeper research into their diversification and spread to posit any other ideas
November 15, 2025 at 5:17 AM
I'd have to do a lot deeper research into their diversification and spread to posit any other ideas
Similar body plans are largely due to feeding mode. All of those fish are sit and wait ambush predators. Gar tend to ambush from the top of the water column. Pike prefer vegetation. Most snakeheads tend to hunt in the middle to lower water column. There are really only a few fish body plans overall
November 15, 2025 at 5:15 AM
Similar body plans are largely due to feeding mode. All of those fish are sit and wait ambush predators. Gar tend to ambush from the top of the water column. Pike prefer vegetation. Most snakeheads tend to hunt in the middle to lower water column. There are really only a few fish body plans overall
Yes, but they probably began to spread before the Himalayas were they height they are now, perhaps before they even truly existed yet. The creation of the mountains let them expand further due to weather changes
November 14, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Yes, but they probably began to spread before the Himalayas were they height they are now, perhaps before they even truly existed yet. The creation of the mountains let them expand further due to weather changes
Yes, it is more interesting, but unfortunately, word limits force me to simply things. Studying how and why species occur in places is always fascinating (to me anyway). But I doubt drainage divides are an absolute barrier for them since they are able to move overland
November 14, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Yes, it is more interesting, but unfortunately, word limits force me to simply things. Studying how and why species occur in places is always fascinating (to me anyway). But I doubt drainage divides are an absolute barrier for them since they are able to move overland
This means that live snakeheads are illegal to possess in most states and anglers are asked to kill them and not release them. And since they are good to eat the fish doesn't need to go to waste. But make sure you can ID them from bowfin and burbot, both natives that commonly get misidentified
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November 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
This means that live snakeheads are illegal to possess in most states and anglers are asked to kill them and not release them. And since they are good to eat the fish doesn't need to go to waste. But make sure you can ID them from bowfin and burbot, both natives that commonly get misidentified
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They are established in the Potomac River, with over 21,000 individuals in just 120 miles of river. They are also in New Jersey and the size of the Delaware River system makes eradication highly unlikely. And they've been reported in at least 11 other states
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November 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
They are established in the Potomac River, with over 21,000 individuals in just 120 miles of river. They are also in New Jersey and the size of the Delaware River system makes eradication highly unlikely. And they've been reported in at least 11 other states
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Unfortunately, they are highly invasive in North America. This is due to a generalized diet, lack of predators, parental care, and toughness. They can move over land and survive out of water up to 4 days. Frankenfish indeed. They were likely introduced as food fish, but are now spreading
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November 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Unfortunately, they are highly invasive in North America. This is due to a generalized diet, lack of predators, parental care, and toughness. They can move over land and survive out of water up to 4 days. Frankenfish indeed. They were likely introduced as food fish, but are now spreading
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One thing that helps snakeheads be successful is that they are devoted parents. Both will guard the eggs and young ferociously until they are ready to live on their own. Even when one adult is captured the others will often stay nearby. They're definitely in the running for best fish parents
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November 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
One thing that helps snakeheads be successful is that they are devoted parents. Both will guard the eggs and young ferociously until they are ready to live on their own. Even when one adult is captured the others will often stay nearby. They're definitely in the running for best fish parents
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Snakeheads originated on the Indian Subcontinent, what is today Pakistan and northern India. When the Intertropical Convergence Zone developed due to the formation of the Alps, Pyrenees, and Hamalyas, it increased humidity and the monsoon weather pattern, allowing them to spread into Eurasia
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November 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Snakeheads originated on the Indian Subcontinent, what is today Pakistan and northern India. When the Intertropical Convergence Zone developed due to the formation of the Alps, Pyrenees, and Hamalyas, it increased humidity and the monsoon weather pattern, allowing them to spread into Eurasia
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There are about 50 species of snakehead, native to Asia and Africa. They range in size from less than 10 inches to over 3 feet long, depending on species. And they are impressive predators in their native waters, filling a somewhat similar role to pike in North America
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November 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
There are about 50 species of snakehead, native to Asia and Africa. They range in size from less than 10 inches to over 3 feet long, depending on species. And they are impressive predators in their native waters, filling a somewhat similar role to pike in North America
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Now I wish I'd been able to get a pic of the snail I saw in Poland. Guess these guys from Missouri and Alabama will have to do
November 9, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Now I wish I'd been able to get a pic of the snail I saw in Poland. Guess these guys from Missouri and Alabama will have to do
I'm sure someone is, though that's not my area of focus so I don't know who would be doing that research for sure
November 8, 2025 at 6:36 PM
I'm sure someone is, though that's not my area of focus so I don't know who would be doing that research for sure
And gar are suspected to have an unusually strong DNA repair apparatus, which, if proven by further studies, could aid in developing treatments against diseases like cancer. If all this isn't enough to convince you of their awesomeness, you need to follow @garlab.bsky.social to set you straight
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November 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
And gar are suspected to have an unusually strong DNA repair apparatus, which, if proven by further studies, could aid in developing treatments against diseases like cancer. If all this isn't enough to convince you of their awesomeness, you need to follow @garlab.bsky.social to set you straight
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Gar have the slowest known rate of molecular evolution of all jawed vertebrates, reducing speciation rates. The 2 living genera evolved 105 million years ago. The oldest articulated vertebrate skeleton of the Cenozoic is a gar from shortly after the Chicxulub impact that killed the dinosaurs
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November 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Gar have the slowest known rate of molecular evolution of all jawed vertebrates, reducing speciation rates. The 2 living genera evolved 105 million years ago. The oldest articulated vertebrate skeleton of the Cenozoic is a gar from shortly after the Chicxulub impact that killed the dinosaurs
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The gar swim bladder functions as a lung and they must surface periodically to gulp air. Studies have shown that gar switch between breathing air and breathing water based on temperature. Warm water holds less oxygen, so they breathe air more in warm temps
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November 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
The gar swim bladder functions as a lung and they must surface periodically to gulp air. Studies have shown that gar switch between breathing air and breathing water based on temperature. Warm water holds less oxygen, so they breathe air more in warm temps
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Native Americans used gar scales as arrowheads, native Carribeans used gar skin as breastplates, and early colonizers wrapped gar skin around their plow blades. In other words, it's really hard to get through gar skin
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November 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Native Americans used gar scales as arrowheads, native Carribeans used gar skin as breastplates, and early colonizers wrapped gar skin around their plow blades. In other words, it's really hard to get through gar skin
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