Today at 12:10 GMT I will provide insight into the wonderful life of a lumpfish.

Lunch lecture: Life of the lumpfish: from egg to ocean and back again At this week’s lunch lecture, we are pleased to welcome James Kennedy, a fish biologist at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Iceland.  Lumpfish is a fish like no other which has been dee...

Want to know more about lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus), join me online or in person on Friday 13th for my talk at the University of the Westfjords.
www.uw.is/en/events/vi...

My first ever attempt at #SundayFishSketch. Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus).

Proportion of Greenland halibut caught during the Icelandic autumn groundfish survey which were considered sexually mature over 4-year periods, and the entire time period, based upon GSI. Lines depict the fitted logistic regression models with 95% confidence intervals.

(4/n) The data collected showed that only about half of females are mature at 75-80 cm, when they are 18 years old, highlighting the long life cycle of this species.

The gonadosomatic index of Greenland halibut caught during the Icelandic autumn groundfish survey at different ovary development stages (A = immature, B = developing, C = spawning, D = spent) visually assessed against the 4-stage scale. Red line represents the GSIcut-off value of 1.5%. Values are the number of fish for each stage which were assessed as sexually immature (bottom) and sexually mature (top) based upon their GSI being less than or greater than the GSIcut-off (1.5 %) value respectively.

(3/n) Using this method, we examined past survey data and reassessed maturity based upon GSI, luckily we had been collecting information on gonad weight since 1996.

Conditional probability estimated using general linear modelling to classify the probability of individual female Greenland halibut being sexually mature based upon the gonadosomatic index. Red dot indicates the point at which there is equal probability of being sexually immature and sexually mature.

(2/n) Assessing maturity using microscopic methods, we examined if the gonadosomatic index (gonad weight / total weight) could be used to indicated maturity status. It tuns out that individuals with an GSI >1.5 are likely to be mature.

Map of sampling locations for Greenland halibut caught during the Greenland annual trawl survey of east Greenland in 2010 and the Icelandic autumn groundfish survey in 2022. Depth information is from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (https://doi.org/10.25921/fd45-gt74) using R package marmap (Pante and Simon-Bouhet 2013). Photograph of Greenland halibut by Svanhildur Egilsdóttir.

(1/n) New paper alert. Using GSI based method to investigate maturity in female Greenland halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides, a long lived flatfish with an unusual ovary development strategy. @mfri.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1111/fme....

Cartoon version of me pondering why fishes are so awesome. There are fossil tetraodontiformes and jars of fishes next to me.

A tiny pufferfish and a large chunky pufferfish on a scale.

Cartoon tetraodontiform fishes. There is a mola mola, pufferfishes, boxfishes, triggerfishes, a filefish, and a cowfish.

I got cartoonified!! Check out this awesome video summary of my past PNAS paper on body size evolution in response to paleoclimatic changes in tetraodontiform fishes!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC2s...

Read the study here: www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

New publication looking at the occurrence and distribution of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) around Iceland (its southern limit) and how it is affected by changes in temperature. @mfri.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

YouTube video by Fiskaspjall - Where we talk about all things fishy Haseeb Randhawa: Parasitologist extraordinaire

A fascinating talk on fish parasites with Haseeb Randhawa talking with Alessandra Schnider from @icefishresearch.bsky.social . Also available on spotify, just search for "Fiskaspjall".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhtw...

My poster is currently being printed, this is the joy I will endure in the coming days.

IT'S ADORABLE!
New fish species just dropped: the bumpy snailfish at 10,000 ft down in the ocean
gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/s...

With two above average year classes entering the fishery, ICES advice for Norwegian spring-spawning herring increases by 33 % to 533 914 tonnes. doi.org/10.17895/ice...

After years of coastal states failing to agree to a shared TAC for Atlantic mackerel, leading to catches > advice, ICES advice for 2026 is 71 % lower than in 2025. doi.org/10.17895/ice...

👩‍🔬BioProtect PhD student Marjolijn Rika Nijzingh collected 325 #eDNA samples at 37 sites (0–500m) around 🇮🇸 aboard RV Árni Friðriksson.

The data will reveal the presence of fish, mammals, corals & more, a big step for #30x30 goals!
Amazing job Marjolijn!👏

#MissionOcean #HorizonEU @mfri.bsky.social

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

PhD opportunity @sosbangor.bsky.social on managing scallop fisheries to find the balance between conservation and fisheries yield. Get in touch if you're interested and I will email you the project description.

PhD position in Carrion & Invasive Species Ecology (283012) | Nord University Job title: PhD position in Carrion & Invasive Species Ecology (283012), Employer: Nord University, Deadline: Sunday, September 21, 2025

PhD opportunity to investigate how the invasive pink salmon affects terrestrial communities & ecology.
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

A whole podcast dedicated to lumpfish!!!

However, a new study shows that early estimates of age at maturity were too high due to biased sampling. Correcting for this results in no significant change in age at maturity over time. 2/n
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Estimated age at which northeast Arctic and North Sea cod mature has decreased over time. This was considered to be a result of fisheries induced evolution whereby fisheries caught older fish, so fish which matured younger were more likely to spawn. 1/n

More interesting Greenland shark reproduction tidbits
- Male do not mature until they are at least ~2.6 m
- Females do not mature until they are at least ~3.9 m
- It is estimated that they produce 200–324 pups per pregnancy
- new born pups are 35-45 cm
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Picture of neonate Greenland sharks, with one showing the vitelline scar.

2/n Absence of neonates in the evaluated data and the scientific literature in general suggests pupping occurs in bathypelagic or benthic habitats of mid-Atlantic Ridge and/or the Irminger Sea.

1/n Fascinating study collating records of Greenland shark across the Atlantic

– males and subadult females found in cold arctic water
– adult females reside in warmer Atlantic water
– large juveniles are common both in high-Arctic and temperate areas
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

A scientific compound figure showing an adult Gasterochisma specimen. The first image shows the whole animal - it is generally shaped like a tuna, but has a small eye and a big forehead, and has huge scales all over its body. The second and third images are close-ups of the head with anatomical features labelled. Credit: Santos & Nunan 2014

An angler posing with a recently caught Gasterochisma specimen aboard a small fishing vessel close to some rocks. The scales are so shiny you can see reflections in them. The fish is quite big, perhaps 150cm long, and apparently weighed 32kg. Credit: Wade Pelham, RedMap.

Every so often I come across a big weird fish I haven't heard of that is so odd and delightful it feels like a gift from the universe to me personally. Anyway I somehow went 25 years without hearing of Gasterochisma, this big bizarro primitive tuna beast. Lovely stuff.

What a coincidence, we at @mfri.bsky.social are just coming to the end a three week seabed mapping cruise (blue lines). The data prepared so far is open access and can be downloaded at the MFRI website www.hafogvatn.is/en/research/....

Temperature is the main driver of lumpfish distribution Lumpfish spawn around the coast of the Nordic countries with the young migrating away from the coast as they grow, but where do they go? The new

Lumpfish spawn around the coast of the Nordic countries, with the young migrating away from the coast as they grow. New research shows that temperature is the main driver of lumpfish distribution in the Nordic Seas.
More here: www.hafogvatn.is/en/about/new... #lumpfishresearch #marinebiology

High-resolution biologging of an Atlantic bluefin tuna captured and eaten by a supposed orca - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - High-resolution biologging of an Atlantic bluefin tuna captured and eaten by a supposed orca

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Loving this paper on recent collaboration between Cefas and partners, including @universityofexeter.bsky.social

...in essence, tagging of a tuna that got eaten by a whale 🍣

🏊 Swimmer #RossEdgley is taking on 1,000 miles in 100 days - alongside killer whales 🐋 through 130ft waves 🇮🇸 🌊
🧑‍🔬 This epic #swimforscience is also an innovative #citizenscience mission‼️
🧬 Ross will collect #eDNA for 🧐 in #BioProtect in 🤝 with
@mfri.bsky.social & @matisiceland.bsky.social
🤗 Coming 🔜