The Deep: Home of BIG TEETH
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From the always epically entertaining MBARI Video.

Hello old friends
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Come in and play!

So here we are in Mexico for the first of two Georgia Aquarium research trips this summer. This is the logistically simpler of the two, for exciting reasons I am not yet at liberty to discuss. On this one we are focusing on photo ID as part of the ECOCEAN project. Yesterday was our first . . . → Read More: Hello old friends

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High Speed Suction Feeding: Bloopers Edition
High Speed Suction Feeding: Bloopers Edition avatar

The Wainwright lab at my alma mater, UC Davis, is famous for posting their high speed video of fish biomechanics, in particular jaw morphology and function. This involves a lot of filming of how fishes feed. The lab put together a brilliant reel of outtakes from these sessions. I LOL’d, I cried… From their youtube . . . → Read More: High Speed Suction Feeding: Bloopers Edition

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Tool Use In Fish
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Photo credit: Scott Gardner When I was in college, I had fish in aquarium. I repeatedly tried to train them to retrieve a beer from my dorm fridge, open the bottle with an opener, and hand fin it to me. Sadly after several hours of me miming instructions and elaborate PVC piping spanning between the . . . → Read More: Tool Use In Fish

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Scientist in Residence: My ‘Seascape of Fear’
Scientist in Residence: My ‘Seascape of Fear’ avatar

Eric Heupel is a graduate student at University of Connecticut in Oceanography. He keeps a personal blog at Eclectic Echoes and Larval Images, and used to part of The Other 95% team along with me before we closed shop. You can find Eric tweeting as @eclecticechoes. —————————————————- Hey folks, Kevin asked me to do . . . → Read More: Scientist in Residence: My ‘Seascape of Fear’

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Whale Bone-Devouring Worm Into More Than Just Whales
Whale Bone-Devouring Worm Into More Than Just Whales avatar

We have a long history of being HUGE fans of the “bone-devouring zombie worm from hell”. Osedax species were described less than 10 years ago and much work on their reproduction, evolution and ecology has yielded incredible insights into a unique and bizarre way of life! Early on, Osedax was only found on whale bones . . . → Read More: Whale Bone-Devouring Worm Into More Than Just Whales

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Worst Headline Ever?
Worst Headline Ever? avatar

Deep sea fish take ugliness to new level, says Niwa Shame…shame…shame to ever thought that calling deep-sea fish ugly was a compelling way spin the narrative about the great fish biodiversity of the depths. You know what? I don’t think they are ugly at all. In fact, deep-sea fish are bad ass. You know what . . . → Read More: Worst Headline Ever?

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70’s Porn Staches and the Female Fish Who Love Them
70’s Porn Staches and the Female Fish Who Love Them avatar

From Schlupp, I., Riesch, R., Tobler, M., Plath, M., Parzefall, J., & Schartl, M. (2010) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Straight men let’s face it. We will do anything if we think females will find it attractive. No matter how ludicrous, expensive, or time-consuming it may be, we will do it. The rise of mullets . . . → Read More: 70’s Porn Staches and the Female Fish Who Love Them

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ResearchBlogCast #4: Decreasing Predator Size Increases Prey Numbers
ResearchBlogCast #4: Decreasing Predator Size Increases Prey Numbers avatar

Each week Dave Munger, Razib Khan and I discuss a recent paper from ResearchBlogging.org. This week was my turn to choose and we discussed the following recent paper: Shackell, N., Frank, K., Fisher, J., Petrie, B., & Leggett, W. (2009). Decline in top predator body size and changing climate alter trophic structure in an oceanic . . . → Read More: ResearchBlogCast #4: Decreasing Predator Size Increases Prey Numbers

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Family Gatherings and Free Swimming Sperm Packets
Family Gatherings and Free Swimming Sperm Packets avatar

From Miya et al. 2010 Figure 1 – Representatives of the lophiiform suborders Lophioidei (A), Antennarioidei (B, C), Chaunacoidei (D), and Ogcocephaloidei (E) My wife is from a very large family. Inevitably at in-law gatherings, I find myself whispering into my wife’s ear, “How are you related to that person?” Unfortunately, my wife has . . . → Read More: Family Gatherings and Free Swimming Sperm Packets

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