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 🔜

Ross Edgley will attempt a historic first: 1,610 km swim around the entire coastline of Iceland. Along the way, his support vessel will collect eDNA samples, and conduct microplastic monitoring, and marine mammal identification.

Basking shark historical sketch.

Friends, I am seeking a historian in either Irish or Scottish lore specialized in leviathans, basking sharks, or any other marine creatures.

New from the Near Lab, led by @chasedbrownstein.bsky.social

"The many origins of extremophile fishes"

We explore the phylogenomics and evolutionary history of the lovely and bizarre eelpouts, ronquils, pricklebacks, and wolffishes (Zoarcoidea).

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Interesting, could you send me a copy james.kennedy[at]hafogvatn.is

Productivity (primary or secondary) did not appear to influence the distribution of lumpfish.
The distribution of juveniles is likely driven by hatching location and ocean currents. (5/n)

Lumpfish are absent from areas south of Iceland and much of the North Sea. While lumpfish are present in the North Sea, they are much less abundant than in the Nordic Seas. The lower occurrence in the North Sea and south of Iceland appears to be driven primarily by temperature. (4/n)

Juveniles and adults were found at different temperatures. Juveniles occurrence peaked at ~6-8°C while adults peaked at ~4-7°C. Occurrence dropped dramatically at temperatures >12°C. (3/n)

The highest densities of juveniles (<18 cm) are in the central Norwegian Sea (left), whereas highest densities of adults are northeast and northwest of the Norwegian Sea (right).
Red indicates an area where that lifestage was never caught in the history of the survey (2010-2023). (2/n)

When lumpfish are not at the coast spawning (Cyclopterus lumpus), where are they? Turns out, almost everywhere in the Nordic Seas.
New paper documenting the summer distribution of lumpfish doi.org/10.1111/fog..... (1/n)
@mfri.bsky.social

Meet the Manefish, Caristius macropus. Named for their distinctive shape, macropus means large foot. This fish was observed in Monterey Bay 483 meters (1584 feet) deep in August of 2018. #MBARIFromTheVault

Donate to Help Dimuthu’s journey to Columbia Journalism School!, organised by Jeevan Ravindran 100% of contributions go directly towards Dimuthu’s… Jeevan Ravindran needs your support for Help Dimuthu’s journey to Columbia Journalism School!

I'm mentoring an environmental reporter from Sri Lanka. She's got a prestigious place to study data journalism in the US. Her scholarship only covers 75% of her fees.
If you can please consider supporting her.
Or get in touch with me if you know any funding sources
💚
www.gofundme.com/f/dimuthu-st...

Journal of Fish Biology: Vol 106, No 3 The <em>Journal of Fish Biology</em> is a leading international ichthyology journal, addressing all aspects of fish biology, their exploitation and importance to human society.

Proud that my article on lumpfish migration made Editor´s choice on Journal of Fish Biology.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/10958649...

A nice catch of Arctic eelpouts, Lycodes reticulatus, north of Iceland.

At our most northern stations of the survey we caught a few Lycodes seminudus. The Latin name describes it as semi naked because it has scales only on half its body. The common name in both Icelandic and Danish translates as half-naked eelpout, but in English, the longear eelpout.

115 cm, 16 kg, Northern wolffish (Anarhichas denticulatus) caught north of Iceland. Northern wolffish have very watery flesh to bring their body close to the density of water. This allows them to easily move away from the sea bottom into the pelagic zone.

Pictures of 5 haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus

Some nice juvenile haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) a common fish here in the north Atlantic and found all around Iceland. So many pictures looked washed out and don´t give credit to how colorful this fish actually is, check out that tail.

Picture of the Icelandic research vessel Þórunn Þórðardóttir

This will also be the first survey of our brand new vessel Þórunn Þórðardóttir.

Satellite image of Iceland and coastal shelf showing the stations of the Iceland groundfish survey and the tracks of the vessels participating.

The Iceland march groundfish survey, ~500 stations surveyed annually to collect information of the bottom dwelling species down to depths of 500 m. The map can be viewed live at skip.hafro.is. @mfri.bsky.social