The next day one of the baby cypresses I planted on the shoreline to help restore bald cypresses to another part of their historic range was gnawed down… at least this time it was nature instead of a boat propellor that took out my cypress. And a very cute beaver at that 🦫

Of course, they use it to go into the future to find new hit songs, then go back to the present and pass them off as their own to make a ton of money

But if I find some more of that size, then I’ve got dinner!

There is a commercial fishery for them, and they are particularly popular in Korea. Apparently, they have a snap/texture like shrimp

If you would like to learn more about these incredible barely-fish, check out this TED-Ed video I co-created with @fudgelab.bsky.social: youtu.be/aiDOtMXICXk or check out our review paper on their fascinating slime properties: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I think NC fisheries people are already on top of acquiring the fish

I had sent that info along to the people who caught it. I think Nc fisheries folks are now in touch with the people who have the catfish

Referencing Ictalurus furcatus, invasive blue catfish, using the poetic shortened version of “Sic Semper Tyrannis” to envoke a saying that sort of means “Thus always I cause death to blue catfish”, since my lab researches and removes these fish

Yes!

Long story short, loricariid (suckermouth) catfishes living in fast flowing, rocky rivers have thick, collagenous lips compared to those in slow-flowing, muddy rivers, which helps them hold under the flow. Sometimes, art can lead to science instead of the other way around… #SciComm