Dr. Solomon David

Been wanting to write this one for awhile!

Conservation obsesses over rare species. But what about the common ones?

Bluegill are the fish almost everyone knows & caught as a child. But, how much do we REALLY know?

New long-form essay 👇 🎣 #InDefeseOfPanfish tnature.substack.com/p/behold-the...

In Pursuit of Alligator Gar, the Ancient Giant of the Shallows The prehistoric fish with a toothy grin is fueling floodplain restoration efforts on the Mississippi River

I feel a bit guilty for enjoying a dish of boulettes made with garfish during my last trip to Bayou Jack.

gardenandgun.com/feature/in-p...

Join us for webinar from PhD student Amanda Schuermann, BSU alumna and current student at UMN MAISRC. Zoom meeting ID is 918 4773 4149 and passcode is SWz8en. Meeting is March 5, 2026 starting at 12:00pm. Title is "A series of happy accidents: Lessons from my trajectory in biology"

[As the guy in that photo] It’s ok! I’ve eaten gar plenty of times and it’s indeed delicious; thanks for promoting their use for both conservation and food!

Keeping you in our thoughts man ❤️

YouTube video by CNA Insider How A Taiwanese Family Turned A US$1 Sweet Potato Into A US$115 Experience | Money Mind

Brb selling city folks the premium, holistic experience of touching grass, smelling flowers, and admiring bugs (a.k.a. my gardening chores)

If you ever want to read a paper for free and can't find it otherwise, email the lead author and politely ask for a copy. You will not be bothering the person. You will in fact make their whole entire day. I have had scientists get so excited I asked they sent me everything they ever published.

I love caves, inflatables and science communication. This month is #colorectal cancer awareness month - the disease that has been ruining me the last 20 months. Get a colonoscopy folks. It’s not as fun as what I’m doing here but it ain’t that bad either.

"We're gonna catch, tag, measure, and release a buncha different sharks"—what?! But it says *GAR* right there before "VIN" (which I assume means there will be wine later) @solomonrdavid.bsky.social can you please explain this mix-up

It’s morning of day 1 of my shark field research skills class! Wish us luck, and let me know if you want to sign up for the fall! 🦑🧪🌎🦈

Hahaha!
As @fishevodevogeno.bsky.social shows, you can certainly handle the eggs and not get poisoned. Wash your hands of course!

Although some people are indeed specifically allergic to gar slime 😮

Yeah right. That's exactly what a poisonous egg would post

Boophis reticulatus, a brown tree frog with weird ridges on its back, perched on a serrated bright green Pandanus leaf.

Platypelis pollicaris, a little brown narrow-mouth frog with flecks of gold over its body, sitting atop a bright green leaf

A female Calumma oshaughnessyi, a large green and grey chameleon with diagonal stripes up its body, walking along a branch toward camera left.

A portrait of Liopholidophis dolicocercus (sorry if you’re using a system that reads these Latin names aloud!), a black, brown, and bright yellow snake. In my years working with snakes in Madagascar, I think I have never had a more cooperative subject. It was totally calm and posable!

Yesterday we hiked out of the forest after five days totally off-grid. Hard to believe what’s happened in the world in the last five days! I’m quite glad we were out of signal range and able to focus on just excellent frogs and reptiles. 🧪🐸🦎🐍🇲🇬

It's the funding of taxonomic research & training that's dying out. Without an ability to identify life forms, we can't recognize/quantify invasions & extinctions and their impacts on ecosystems. Imagine trying to repair a complex steel structure if you can't distinguish different types of bearings.

Narrator: Dr. Shiffman confused “gourmet” with “garmet,” hence his final meal.

*the garnish was also toxic.

fin.

*perhaps* with *enough* hot sauce…might I recommend Tabasco GARlic😅

*DO NOT TRY THIS.

Thanks very much for your interest and questions!

People who tell me not to eat gar eggs: experts

People who cannot be trusted because they’re liars: experts

Conclusion:

Say no to cavigar, I mean garviar, I mean— just don’t eat gar eggs!

It can be high (which is relative), so best to consume in moderation, as with most top predator fish species.

Forbidden cavigar

Boy do I wish you had posted this before lunchtime

It’s *possible* that might reduce toxicity, but we don’t know much about the toxins. I’d highly recommend simply not eating the eggs (the meat is tasty though!)

It’s a niche “doctor” thing 😅😅😅

They look like plastic googly eyes that are so old the clear plastic is yellowing.

YouTube video by Bizarre Beasts Meet the Air-Breathing Fish with Poisonous Eggs

More on why you should NOT eat gar eggs in our episode @bizarrebeastsshow.bsky.social: youtu.be/Bcz67-n4GZg

a bald man is sitting in a chair with his hands folded and clapping . Alt: a bald man is sitting in a chair with his hands folded and clapping .

😂👍

They’re ALL toxic (to humans, other mammals, also birds, reptiles, amphibians, arthropods…but not to fishes!)

YouTube video by Bizarre Beasts Meet the Air-Breathing Fish with Poisonous Eggs

More on why you should NOT eat gar eggs in our episode @bizarrebeastsshow.bsky.social: youtu.be/Bcz67-n4GZg