Maxwell Bernt

Novel assembly of a head–trunk interface in the sister group of jawed vertebrates - Nature Imaging of a Devonian jawless fish reveals advanced features previously thought to be exclusive to jawed vertebrates, challenging the idea that jaws were the primary driver for the evolution of d...

A specimen of the fossil fish Norselaspis yields a wealth of information on the evolution of the head-trunk interface in vertebrates www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Wow--new goby fossil!!

Pennsylvania?

Alejandro Romero-Figueroa and Tiago P. Carvalho "Four New Species of Phenacogaster (Characiformes: Characidae) and a Review of Its Diversity in Colombia," Ichthyology & Herpetology 112(4), 619-644, (11 December 2024). https://doi.org/10.1643/i2023094

#NewSpeciesAlert - #𝑃ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑎𝑟𝑖, 𝑃. 𝑛𝑢𝑘𝑎𝑘, 𝑃. 𝑡𝑢𝑘𝑎𝑛𝑜 and 𝑃. 𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑦𝑢𝑝𝑒, four new species of #characins (#tetras) are described from the #Amazon and #Orinoco River basins of #Columbia.
🔒 bioone.org/journals/ich...
50-day free access - www.ichthyologyandherpetology.org/ihbjbd/tm202...

Sinocyclocheilus wanlanensis sp. nov., GXU2020000062, holotype, 86.74 mm SL. (A) Live specimen (not holotype); (B) lateral view of head in preserved specimen; (C) dorsal view of preserved specimen.

𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠, a new species of eyeless cavefish is described from Guizhou Province, China. 🐟🧪

mdpi.com/2076-2615/15...

While scanning some fishes yesterday I came across this Bonytail Chub collected near Blythe, CA in 1933. You can't find this species in Blythe anymore, nor in the rest of California as it is critically endangered. Museum collections like @nhm.org showcasing yet again our changing planet 🐟🐠

Panels c-f of Figure 1 depicting the lower jaw of Devonian actinopterygian Gogosardina coatesi

Curious about Devonian actinopterygian lower jaws? Look no further--our new paper provides comprehensive descriptions for 19 species in a tidy ~50 page summary! anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

In an unconscionable decision, the Smithsonian Institute has decided to no longer support the Biodiversity Heritage Library from 1 Jan 2026. Please someone step up and take it over.

New paper alert: 42 ecological traits for all 6,000+ valid species of #Neotropical_freshwater_fishes, the most diverse continental vertebrate fauna on Earth. A foundation for future studies on the ecology and conservation of tropical aquatic biodiversity.

nature.com/articles/s41...

a dragonfly perched on a hand wearing pink nailpolish

Do you fish in freshwater? Please share or/and complete our survey gathering data on observations of insects for our study on aquatic insect population declines! The link to our survey is here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/VXLMY89. Please share if you know anyone who might be interested in participating!

New fish paper! We found that Clinocottus globicpes eats anemones (weird!) using a novel wrestling behavior + strong jaws that likely started as adaptations for tearing algae. It also has thick skin that protects it from stinging cells. @jzoology.bsky.social 🐟🧪

DM for PDF.

doi.org/10.1111/jzo....

Six-inch yellow bullhead.

30-inch flathead catfish.

Yesterday was #NationalCatfishDay. To celebrate, I went fishing and used a catfish (Ameiurus natalis) as bait to catch a bigger catfish (Pylodictis olivaris). Not quite the monster I was hoping for...

Large, pale fish being lifted from moderately turbit water by a man in rain gear.

There are recent reports of the enigmatic Luciobrama macrocephalus from the Yangtze River...
This fish hasn't been collected since 1988.
From a facebook post by Drake Shaw: www.facebook.com/yuanzhou.xia...

Dude, I had the exact same experience at trivia with picking the fish round...easy to overthink fish questions when you're an ichthyologist.

Bathypterois guentheri from @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 84 #MarineLife

A photo of a Common Potoo perched atop a branch. The bird is visible in profile. Its head is large, its eye is huge and yellow. Its beak is small. It is tannish in color and flecked with darker patterning.

The Common Pootoo is a master of disguise. You might think its huge yellow eyes would draw the attention of predators, but the bird has a workaround: It can close its peepers while staying aware of its surroundings, thanks to slits in its eyelids!
Photo: Jéssica Martins, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, iNautralist

Repeated and widespread evolution of biofluorescence in marine fishes - Nature Communications Biofluorescence is widespread in fishes. Here, the authors compile data on biofluorescence presence across teleost fishes and demonstrate that it may have originally evolved in eels 112 million years ...

Repeated and widespread evolution of biofluorescence in marine fishes

Carr et al. 2025 Nature Comm.

459 known biofluorescent teleosts (the majority are associated with coral reefs); estimate biofluorescence evolved multiple times but first ~112 mya

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

Type genomics: a Framework for integrating Genomic Data into Biodiversity and Taxonomic research

Happy to share this collaborative effort on recommendations for #genomics of #type specimens
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...

Today at GenBank: sequences from the types of Synodus lautus sp. nov. from "A new species of Synodus from southern Japan, with a redescription of Synodus usitatus Cressey 1981 (Teleostei: Aulopiformes: Synodontidae)" from Furuhashi & Motomura in Ichthyol. Res. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Coelacanths having a great week! First a new live sighting of the Indonesian species, and now this fantastic work on their musculature by Aléssio Datovo and the late Dave Johnson

New molecular + morphological anglerfish phylogeny! #marinelife

Today at GenBank: sequences from the holotype of Labeo niariensis sp. nov. from the Niari River of R. Congo, courtesy of Liyandja & Stiassny in J. Fish Biol. (open access) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Proliobagrus dorsalis, holotype, GIF 2011050901 (a) and overall morphology (b): overall skeleton. Scale: (a) 10, (b) 6 mm We use synchrotron microtomography to study the osteology of an eyeless stygobitic catfish from South China with the objective of examining its systematic position. The results support to assign this species to the superfamily Sisoroidea. Proliobagrus He, Lundberg, Yang et Yang, gen. nov. is proposed diagnosed with a combination of characters: infraorbital bones reduced to one posteriormost element and lacrimal; mesocoracoid arch incomplete; first dorsal-fin pterygiophore compressed lacking paired bony canals for erector muscles, fused with an anteriorly directed process at its proximal end, and remote from Weberian complex; compound Weberian centrum with a ventral median ridge instead of paired ventrolateral ridges, an auxillary parapophysis posterolaterally off compound Weberian centrum, heavy strut-like process ventrally off the fourth neural spine, claustrum absent, tripus with outwardly extended transformator process; anterior cranial fontanelle closed, posterior cranial fontanelle subdivided into anterior and posterior remnant; first proximal pectoral-fin radial roughly round; dorsal and ventral procurrent caudal-fin rays less than ten respectively; base of nasal barbel on anterior rim of posterior nostril; skin lacking tubercles. In a first cladistic analysis, Proliobagrus is grouped with sampled amblycipitid species. The abrupt change of insert position of the first dorsal-fin pterygoid implies that none of extant amblycipitid species could be considered as direct ancestor of Proliobagrus and it represents a relic lineage surviving in subterranean waters.

Synchrotron Microtomographic Osteology of the Chinese Subterranean Catfish: Description and Systematic Analysis.

Journal of Ichthyology, He, Y., Lundberg, J.G., Yang, J. and Yang, J.X., 2025.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The effect of turbidity on foraging by prerostrum juvenile Paddlefish ABSTRACTObjective. A previous study evaluating restoration success of Paddlefish Polyodon spathula suggested that excessive turbidity in lakes and rivers m

New #paddlefish paper just dropped. 🚨
So hot and fresh, the DOI link doesn’t even work yet
academic.oup.com/tafs/advance...

How do you measure what isn't there?

Elska did a fantastic job leading this paper on how we can measure the volume of changing, 3D spaces inside XROMM skeletal animations. And, importantly, how good are those volume measurements?
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

cover of "Catfishes, a Highly Diversified Group" showing a catfish swimming

Table of contents showing 14 chapters ranging from anatomy to ecology and evolution of catfishes

A new book all about catfishes!

"Catfishes, a Highly Diversified Group: Volume 1: Their Outstanding Biology"

Arratia and Reis 2025

Jack Dempsey cichlid, caught in a South Dakota river.

There is a hot-spring fed river in South Dakota that has a feral population of Jack Dempsey cichlids.

Phylogenomic species delimitation of studfishes (Fundulidae: Fundulus ): evidence for cryptic species in agreement with the central highlands vicariance hypothesis | Zootaxa

Two new studfish! Thanks to the Sandel Lab for letting me tag along :)

www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...

Articulated skeleton of a fossil catfish, in the process of being prepared. Parts of the body and skull remain concealed by rock.

An Eocene catfish emerging in the prep lab on #FossilFriday.

1/9 #science #biology Very pleased to announced that our accepted paper on the early evolution of acanthopterygian fishes is out in Evolution!
doi.org/10.1093/evol...