Better Know a Fish! / 曉得多魚！
@betterknowafish.bsky.social
Alum UC Davis EVE / Duke MEM in Taiwan 台灣 partaking in #SundayFishSketch, #TaiwanFishes, #FishBooksForKids, and other fishy adventures! Rebuilding the old blog soon.
🐟 https://betterknowafish.com
📸 instagram.com/betterknowafish
🐟 https://betterknowafish.com
📸 instagram.com/betterknowafish
A non-fishhead bestie asked me "What is your pick for most underrated fish?" and of course I replied the eel. Etched in the history of many cultures, yet full of mystery across their metamorphosis and epic migrations between the open sea to rivers far inland. For "life cycle" #SundayFishSketch 🦑🐡🧪
November 9, 2025 at 4:56 PM
A non-fishhead bestie asked me "What is your pick for most underrated fish?" and of course I replied the eel. Etched in the history of many cultures, yet full of mystery across their metamorphosis and epic migrations between the open sea to rivers far inland. For "life cycle" #SundayFishSketch 🦑🐡🧪
Rene assigned spooky fishes for Halloween #SundayFishSketch. Sharks are often misunderstood as scary or spooky, but most species are just derpy sea puppies, like this Chiloscyllium punctatum / brown-banded bamboo shark / 點文狗鯊 / 白狗鯊。 #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 🦑🐡🧪
November 2, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Rene assigned spooky fishes for Halloween #SundayFishSketch. Sharks are often misunderstood as scary or spooky, but most species are just derpy sea puppies, like this Chiloscyllium punctatum / brown-banded bamboo shark / 點文狗鯊 / 白狗鯊。 #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 🦑🐡🧪
An early #SundayFishSketch to celebrate this incredible #SciArt community created and inspired by @lampichthys.bsky.social! Happy Opah Sketchiversary to Rene, and cheers to everyone who's ever drawn a Sunday doodle. Here's to year 10 and to new art friends taking the plunge! 🦑🐡🧪
October 25, 2025 at 2:19 PM
An early #SundayFishSketch to celebrate this incredible #SciArt community created and inspired by @lampichthys.bsky.social! Happy Opah Sketchiversary to Rene, and cheers to everyone who's ever drawn a Sunday doodle. Here's to year 10 and to new art friends taking the plunge! 🦑🐡🧪
For #Artic fishes #SundayFishSketch assignment I picked the rather confidently named Bathymaster signatus. (Although annoyingly the describer/namer was E.D. Cope sigh) 🦑🐡🧪
October 19, 2025 at 3:28 PM
For #Artic fishes #SundayFishSketch assignment I picked the rather confidently named Bathymaster signatus. (Although annoyingly the describer/namer was E.D. Cope sigh) 🦑🐡🧪
We are celebrating baby Ava this week for #SundayFishSketch! For #nursing theme here is Neolamprologus brichardi. In Taiwan hobby circles, cichlids are called 慈鯛—literally a tenderhearted/motherly fish. And this cichlid even forms cooperative nurseries where many parents and young care for fry! 🐡🦑🧪
October 12, 2025 at 1:24 PM
We are celebrating baby Ava this week for #SundayFishSketch! For #nursing theme here is Neolamprologus brichardi. In Taiwan hobby circles, cichlids are called 慈鯛—literally a tenderhearted/motherly fish. And this cichlid even forms cooperative nurseries where many parents and young care for fry! 🐡🦑🧪
I know we've been eagerly waiting for some happy news to come out of the #LAMPLab but in the meantime, here is a baby gar for #SundayFishSketch! (Thanks to #GarLab for the reference gar!) (Also, first fish in the new sketchbook!) 🦑🐡🧪
October 5, 2025 at 2:06 PM
I know we've been eagerly waiting for some happy news to come out of the #LAMPLab but in the meantime, here is a baby gar for #SundayFishSketch! (Thanks to #GarLab for the reference gar!) (Also, first fish in the new sketchbook!) 🦑🐡🧪
And that's a wrap for this sketchbook! That's 110 pages drawn over 2+ years featuring ~206 completed #SundayFishSketch and #SciArtSeptember works. Shoutout to the #TeamFish #SciArt community—especially @lampichthys.bsky.social and @lizlagomorph.bsky.social. Here's to many more notebooks to come! 🐡🦑🧪
October 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM
And that's a wrap for this sketchbook! That's 110 pages drawn over 2+ years featuring ~206 completed #SundayFishSketch and #SciArtSeptember works. Shoutout to the #TeamFish #SciArt community—especially @lampichthys.bsky.social and @lizlagomorph.bsky.social. Here's to many more notebooks to come! 🐡🦑🧪
With all my heart here is my #SciArtSeptember finale for Day 30/30, theme: #Dream. May humanity awaken to coexist with ourselves and our blue, blue home—and may the seas forever teem with life from the reefs to the deep. Thank you @lizlagomorph.bsky.social for another incredible #SciArt run!! 🐡🦑🧪
September 30, 2025 at 3:25 PM
With all my heart here is my #SciArtSeptember finale for Day 30/30, theme: #Dream. May humanity awaken to coexist with ourselves and our blue, blue home—and may the seas forever teem with life from the reefs to the deep. Thank you @lizlagomorph.bsky.social for another incredible #SciArt run!! 🐡🦑🧪
Haikouichthys ercaicunensis. Do you think 530 million years ago this little wriggler knew its progeny would be resurrecting autocracies, fast-tracking climate change, toying with nuclear weapons, and generally undoing the last 530MYs of progress? For #SciArtSeptember #Foresight theme. Day 29/30 🐡🦑🧪
September 29, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Haikouichthys ercaicunensis. Do you think 530 million years ago this little wriggler knew its progeny would be resurrecting autocracies, fast-tracking climate change, toying with nuclear weapons, and generally undoing the last 530MYs of progress? For #SciArtSeptember #Foresight theme. Day 29/30 🐡🦑🧪
Scomber australasicus 花腹鯖 is a longtime local fishery here in Taiwan. Yet frustratingly, at bento lunch counters and retail freezer cases, Atlantic mackerel (specifically from Norway) dominates the marketing. For #SundayFishSketch x #SciArtSeptember #Harvest theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 28/30 🐡🦑🧪
September 28, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Scomber australasicus 花腹鯖 is a longtime local fishery here in Taiwan. Yet frustratingly, at bento lunch counters and retail freezer cases, Atlantic mackerel (specifically from Norway) dominates the marketing. For #SundayFishSketch x #SciArtSeptember #Harvest theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 28/30 🐡🦑🧪
In Taipei you can take the MRT to see mangrove flats and mudskippers 彈塗魚. But that same subway line and surrounding concrete jungle means that this precious habitat will never be able to retreat and survive future sea level rise. For #SciArtSeptember #Bounded theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 27/30 🦑🐡🧪
September 27, 2025 at 5:28 AM
In Taipei you can take the MRT to see mangrove flats and mudskippers 彈塗魚. But that same subway line and surrounding concrete jungle means that this precious habitat will never be able to retreat and survive future sea level rise. For #SciArtSeptember #Bounded theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 27/30 🦑🐡🧪
Onychostoma alticorpus / qulih balay/ kuau / ’eou / lalingaw / saiiahlʉ / 高身白甲魚 / 鮸仔/ Taiwan ku fish is a traditional food species for many of Taiwan's Indigenous cultures. For #SciArtSeptember #Forage theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day26/30 🦑🐡🧪
September 26, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Onychostoma alticorpus / qulih balay/ kuau / ’eou / lalingaw / saiiahlʉ / 高身白甲魚 / 鮸仔/ Taiwan ku fish is a traditional food species for many of Taiwan's Indigenous cultures. For #SciArtSeptember #Forage theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day26/30 🦑🐡🧪
Oncorhynchus masou formosanus / 櫻花鉤吻鮭 / bunban / Formosan landlocked salmon is one of Taiwan's biological treasures. Conserving this rare salmonid in high altitude streams of a tropical island is literally an uphill battle. For #SciArtSeptember #Tireless theme #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 25/30 🦑🐡🧪
September 26, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Oncorhynchus masou formosanus / 櫻花鉤吻鮭 / bunban / Formosan landlocked salmon is one of Taiwan's biological treasures. Conserving this rare salmonid in high altitude streams of a tropical island is literally an uphill battle. For #SciArtSeptember #Tireless theme #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 25/30 🦑🐡🧪
Mobula alfredi / hāhālua populations are numbered, but thanks to numbers of dedicated volunteers and researchers, individual reef mantas are being identified and numbered in regional catalogues around the world, including Hawai'i. For #SciArtSeptember #Numbered theme #HawaiianFishes Day 24/30 🦑🐡🧪
September 24, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Mobula alfredi / hāhālua populations are numbered, but thanks to numbers of dedicated volunteers and researchers, individual reef mantas are being identified and numbered in regional catalogues around the world, including Hawai'i. For #SciArtSeptember #Numbered theme #HawaiianFishes Day 24/30 🦑🐡🧪
Neoclinus blanchardi—the sarcastic fringehead—was named by C. Girard 1858 but not in any scientific journal. This was one of many species collected on survey missions for the Transcontinental Railroad, published in reports to the Department of War. For #SciArtSeptember #Scouting theme 🐡🦑🧪 Day 23/30
September 23, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Neoclinus blanchardi—the sarcastic fringehead—was named by C. Girard 1858 but not in any scientific journal. This was one of many species collected on survey missions for the Transcontinental Railroad, published in reports to the Department of War. For #SciArtSeptember #Scouting theme 🐡🦑🧪 Day 23/30
Chiloglanis frodobagginsi is my doodle for #SciArtSeptember #Fellowship theme? This tiny 2~3cm catfish from Guinea has a sucker mouth, but does not belong to Loricariidae. Instead they are Mochokidae "upside-down" catfishes that also evolved a grippy rasping mouth. #MoreCatfish Day 22/30 🐡🦑🧪
September 22, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Chiloglanis frodobagginsi is my doodle for #SciArtSeptember #Fellowship theme? This tiny 2~3cm catfish from Guinea has a sucker mouth, but does not belong to Loricariidae. Instead they are Mochokidae "upside-down" catfishes that also evolved a grippy rasping mouth. #MoreCatfish Day 22/30 🐡🦑🧪
A friend of mine was telling me how she had a "moment" with a 哈氏錦魚 Thalassoma hardwicke on a recent dive, where she had to tell this little buddy not to follow her home. Did the telepathy work? Only they know. For #SundayFishSketch x #SciArtSeptember #Reef theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 21/30 🐡🦑🧪
September 21, 2025 at 12:25 PM
A friend of mine was telling me how she had a "moment" with a 哈氏錦魚 Thalassoma hardwicke on a recent dive, where she had to tell this little buddy not to follow her home. Did the telepathy work? Only they know. For #SundayFishSketch x #SciArtSeptember #Reef theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 21/30 🐡🦑🧪
Macropodus opercularis 蓋斑鬥魚 is another fish found on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, separated since the Last Glacial Maximum. In Taiwan, wild populations are now classified as Rare and Valuable Species due to habitat loss. For #SciArtSeptember #Glacial theme #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 20/30 🦑🐡🧪
September 20, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Macropodus opercularis 蓋斑鬥魚 is another fish found on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, separated since the Last Glacial Maximum. In Taiwan, wild populations are now classified as Rare and Valuable Species due to habitat loss. For #SciArtSeptember #Glacial theme #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 20/30 🦑🐡🧪
Fishes from the deep can be cute, too! Chromis tingting 婷氏光鰓雀鯛 is a damselfish at home in mesophotic reefs. And @kaithefishguy.bsky.social named this species after his mum! For #SciArtSeptember #Depths theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 19/30 🦑🐡🧪
September 19, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Fishes from the deep can be cute, too! Chromis tingting 婷氏光鰓雀鯛 is a damselfish at home in mesophotic reefs. And @kaithefishguy.bsky.social named this species after his mum! For #SciArtSeptember #Depths theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 19/30 🦑🐡🧪
For #SciArtSeptember #Cenote theme here is Typhlias pearsei / sak kay / dama blanca ciega. It's a blind, cave-adapted, viviparous brotula that tops out around 10 cm but gives birth "to up to a dozen young... about 2.4 to 3.7 cm in length" 😱 #MéxicoFishes Day 18/30 🦑🐡🧪
September 19, 2025 at 2:09 AM
For #SciArtSeptember #Cenote theme here is Typhlias pearsei / sak kay / dama blanca ciega. It's a blind, cave-adapted, viviparous brotula that tops out around 10 cm but gives birth "to up to a dozen young... about 2.4 to 3.7 cm in length" 😱 #MéxicoFishes Day 18/30 🦑🐡🧪
Hairtails like Trichiurus lepturus 白帶魚 are a big target of trawl fishery in Taiwan, and they are often found fresh in the morning traditional markets or cleaned and vacuum-packed in the freezer section of supermarkets. For #SciArtSeptember #Trawl theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 17/30 🦑🐡🧪
September 17, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Hairtails like Trichiurus lepturus 白帶魚 are a big target of trawl fishery in Taiwan, and they are often found fresh in the morning traditional markets or cleaned and vacuum-packed in the freezer section of supermarkets. For #SciArtSeptember #Trawl theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 17/30 🦑🐡🧪
Not sure 8cm counts as "giant" but alas we have Rhinogobius gigas 大吻鰕虎 here—a beautiful goby endemic to drainages along Taiwan's East Rift Valley 花東縱谷 formed by the Chihshang Fault 池上段層。For #SciArtSeptember #Rift theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 16/30 🐡🦑🧪
September 16, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Not sure 8cm counts as "giant" but alas we have Rhinogobius gigas 大吻鰕虎 here—a beautiful goby endemic to drainages along Taiwan's East Rift Valley 花東縱谷 formed by the Chihshang Fault 池上段層。For #SciArtSeptember #Rift theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 16/30 🐡🦑🧪
Bolbometopon muricatum 隆頭鸚哥魚 is famous for its spawning aggregations—all the more impressive since it is the largest parrotfish species. For #SciArtSeptember #Spawning theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 15/30 (We're entering the second half now!!!) 🐡🦑🧪
September 15, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Bolbometopon muricatum 隆頭鸚哥魚 is famous for its spawning aggregations—all the more impressive since it is the largest parrotfish species. For #SciArtSeptember #Spawning theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 15/30 (We're entering the second half now!!!) 🐡🦑🧪
The young of Plectropomus laevis 橫斑刺鰓鮨 are Batesian mimics of Canthigaster valentini 瓦氏尖鼻魨。For #SciArtSeptember x #SundayFishSketch #Mimic theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 14/30 🦑🐡🧪
September 14, 2025 at 3:41 PM
The young of Plectropomus laevis 橫斑刺鰓鮨 are Batesian mimics of Canthigaster valentini 瓦氏尖鼻魨。For #SciArtSeptember x #SundayFishSketch #Mimic theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 14/30 🦑🐡🧪
Though it can miraculously scale vertical surfaces in fast flowing waters, Sinogastromyzon puliensis 埔里中華爬岩鰍 is nevertheless an endangered species experiencing genetic isolation from habitat alterations. For #SciArtSeptember #Bottleneck theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 13/30 🐡🦑🧪
September 13, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Though it can miraculously scale vertical surfaces in fast flowing waters, Sinogastromyzon puliensis 埔里中華爬岩鰍 is nevertheless an endangered species experiencing genetic isolation from habitat alterations. For #SciArtSeptember #Bottleneck theme. #TaiwanFishes #台灣魚類 Day 13/30 🐡🦑🧪