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Katie O'Reilly

@drkatfish.bsky.social
6.3K followers 820 following 931 posts

Aquatic Invasive Species Specialist with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant | #GreatLakes | Come for the #ecology & #scicomm, get reeled in by the fish puns iiseagrant.org/about/our-team/katie…

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Titus Seilheimer @drfishsg.bsky.social · 5h
Spotted sucker for #SundayFishSketch. I don't think it's frowning, just pensive.
Ink sketch of head-on fish.
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John F Tollefson @jftollefson.bsky.social · 12h
Got the nose-end totally wrong, but it’s a sketch. Sturgeon chub for “draw all the Kansas fish” self-imposed challenge and #SundayFishSketch Ink + colored pencil
Illustration of a speckled brown fish with a grey belly. In profile, facing right.
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Kristen Behrens, PhD @behrenskristen.bsky.social · 11h
#SundayFishSketch is a Yellowtail Wrasse (Coris gaimard) that I’ve been working on as a thank you for the U of M collections manager for taking down (and rifling through) so many nasty coffin tanks for me (sorry Ben 😂). Might yet poke at this a bit more we’ll see
Digital drawing of a yellow tail wrasse. This one is a bit of a doozy. It does have a yellow tail, and from snoot to tail it starts out peach pink and then goes green and then navy blue. The back half has many bright blue scales scattered. The bottom fins are red with a bright teal edge. The dorsal fin looks a bit like a sunset. The fish also has teal horizontal stripes but squiggly on the face around the eye. It’s a gorgeous fish!
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Taylor Black @taylorblack.bsky.social · 11h
For this #sundayfishsketch I present a couple young brown trout (Salmo trutta) hanging out by the rocks and vegetation in this underwater scene. #fish #freshwater #trout #sciart
An underwater scene with two young brown trout, aquatic vegetation and some rocks
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Jayce the Creature Creator @creatorjayce.bsky.social · 9h
A guppy rough sketch just in time for #sundayfishsketch #fishart #guppy
 A pen rough sketch of a guppy (Poecilia reticulata) on sketch book paper.
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Quake & Quiver @quakeandquiver.bsky.social · 8h
Sturgeon time #SundayFishSketch #sciart
A drawing of a sturgeon crosshatched in blue, red, and green
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Dhiyanah @bydhiyanah.bsky.social · 17h
Slowly working on a couple of ribbon eel pieces, started inking a sketchbook spread. Wrists are feeling sore and stiff. Stretching, hydrating and taking lots of rest in between. #SundayFishSketch #WIP #FishArt #ink #TradArt #SciArt 🎨🐡
Cropped view of a sketchbook page of two ribbon eels drawn in ink slithering from the sides of the page. Their mouths are lines with teensy teeth and opened as if in eternal screams. What a mood. Drawn by the artist Dhiyanah Hassan.
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Sarage @sarahcpjones.bsky.social · 16h
very quick Pacific Blue Eye for #SundayFishSketch. These are a little Australian native freshwater fish people keep in aquaria.
A pen/pencil crayon/posca drawing of a small shiny yellow fish with a big eye and a yellow/black fins it holds out from it's body
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Better Know a Fish! / 曉得多魚! @betterknowafish.bsky.social · 15h
Just now I learned there's a genus of "ribbongoby" thanks to photos posted by IG user @konatsu0898! Here's one Oxymetopon compressus for #SundayFishSketch 🦑🐡🧪
Photo of a crayon sketch of a robust ribbon goby
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
👀 Must be the season of the fish. Squidfacts.net
A tote bag with a bunch of freak ass fish including the mola mola, barreled, gulper eel, and viperfish, with fish in a bunch of languages. The words on the graphic say freaky
Fish tote. Each of the fish is popping in. The mola mola saga omg I’m on a bag. The vioerfish says how alluring!
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Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant @ilinseagrant.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Carolyn Foley, long-time IISG and Purdue FNR research coordinator and a deeply valued member of the Great Lakes research community, passed away on April 22, 2026. 💙 An undergraduate research award has been established in her memory. Her full story is here: iiseagrant.org/fnr-remember...
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Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The character of Charlie from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia with the text "I'm just the best goddamn toad lawyer in the world."
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Titus Seilheimer @drfishsg.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
New Ask Dr Fish dropped this week. Give it a listen, ask us a question. www.askdrfish.com/12 @drkatfish.bsky.social @ilinseagrant.bsky.social
askdrfish.com
Ask Dr. Fish | Their Mouth Writing Is Terrible
We ask our Drs Fish about "zombie fish," fishes of spring, fish intelligence, and fishes' environmental sensitivities. Walpole Island students raising lake sturgeon "Saving Our Sturgeon" Teach Me A...
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Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) @globservingsystem.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
GLOS is seeking 1 Communications Fellow AND 1 Engagement Fellow for hands-on, mentored fellowship experiences at the intersection of coastal ocean and Great Lakes science, community engagement, and public service. Applications are due by 5pm ET Nov 13, 2026 glos.org/jobs/
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The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 09/10/2026
A former director of the committee overseeing Canada-U.S. water relations says, despite President Donald Trump’s move to change the name of Lake Ontario, the real threat to the Great Lakes is a shift away from research and monitoring: “If you can’t understand the lakes, you can’t protect the lakes.”
thenarwhal.ca
Lake Ontario: Donald Trump and the great distraction
‘If you can’t understand the lakes, you can’t protect the lakes’: a former director of the committee overseeing Canada-U.S. water relations says the real threat to the Great Lakes is a shift away from research and monitoring
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Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Carolyn Foley was a #GreatLakes champion, and more so, an awesome human. Don't take my word for it; this article has anecdotes from just a few of the people who knew her. Purdue and @ilinseagrant.bsky.social started an undergrad Great Lakes research award in her memory ag.purdue.edu/news/departm...
ag.purdue.edu
FNR Remembers Carolyn Foley, Names Great Lakes Research Award
Carolyn Foley, a long-time member of the Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) staff, passed away on April 22, 2026. A celebration of life will take place i...
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MBARI @mbarinews.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
That moment when you spot a deep-sea cutie 😍⁠ ⁠ Deep-sea hatchetfishes in the family Sternoptychidae cleverly camouflage themselves in the dark depths of the ocean with light-producing organs along their bellies. This counterillumination allows them to hide from predators that may be lurking below.
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Greg Seitz @gregseitz.com · 07/10/2026
I got to release some baby lake sturgeon into the wild yesterday. Many of them will outlive me.
A pair of hands holding a fish about 6 inches longA man on a dock leaning over the water empties a white five gallon bucket into a lake while several people on the dock observe
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Caitlin MacKenzie @cmacmtns.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Very excited to teach ecology & conservation tomorrow. We're doing my favorite activity: Noah Kahan teaches us Vermont forest disturbance dynamics through song lyrics on the great divide album.
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Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
From hosting a crayfish ID workshop with Dr. Will Ota of Michigan State, to moderating a session of talks about cool ways of doing invasive species outreach (including partnering with breweries!), it's been a great (busy) first day at the Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference in La Crosse, WI
A barge sails on the Mississippi RiverPeople in a laboratory setting listen to a lecture on crayfish IDFour beer cans with aquatic-themed names and designs
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Aaron Becker @aaronjbecker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Typical peak foliage: Door County around Oct 18, Chicago around Oct 26. Timing from 25 years of NASA MODIS phenology, checked against USA National Phenology Network observations; color from USDA Forest Service tree species maps. #fallfoliage #GreatLakes
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Humber Arboretum @humberarb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Are you 18+, living in Canada, and bought a flower, shrub, perennial, native plant, or houseplant in the last 12 months? Take this 15 minute survey to help a University of Waterloo PhD student research the environmental impacts of ornamental plants: uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com
Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Warning: This paper contains cute baby clams attached to baby fish photos.
 Photos of glochidia on larval lake whitefish. The individual in (A) and (B) (10.6 mm total length) was collected in West Bay, Lake Superior, and had one glochidium on its pelvic fin (B, C). The individual in (D) and (E) (13.2 mm total length) was collected in Tahquamenon Bay, Lake Superior, and had one glochidium near its gills (E, F). The individual in (G), (H), and (J) (14.1 mm total length) had one glochidium near its mouth (H, I) and one glochidium near its gill (J, K). Magnification values are shown for each row of photos.
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Titus Seilheimer @drfishsg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A smorgasbord of fishes for #SundayFishSketch.
Head-on ink sketches of 7 fish species.
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Jasmine 🏴‍☠️ @abyssangler.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Grumpy grandpa goby 🐟 #SciArt #NatureArt #naturalhistoryillustration #fishart
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Quake & Quiver @quakeandquiver.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
A salmon 🐟 for today's #SundayFishSketch #sciart
A pen drawing of a male salmon, crosshatched in red, blue, and green
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Kristen Behrens, PhD @behrenskristen.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
#SundayFishSketch is a quick little Red Handfish, since he ended up being the fish of choice for my field trip presentation this week!
Colored pencil drawing of a red handfish. As the name implies, his pectoral fins are red and very human hand-looking. He also has a fin coming out of his forehead shaped like a triangle that reminds me of a dinosaur.
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John F Tollefson @jftollefson.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Day 4 - #Cactus A Porcupine Fish (Diodon hystrix) doing its best barrel cactus impression. Looks like something socked them in the eye, causing the puff-up? **reposted - an edit function would be nice for typos** #Inktober #SundayFishSketch #fishart #sciart
Ink drawing of a porcupine fish inflated like a spiky balloon. Facing right
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NE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 30/09/2026
these river otters are blissfully unaware the Cuyahoga has 13 fires in its history
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Noah Bressman, PhD @noahwithfish.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
My favorite emails from students are those with the subject, “What fish is this?” Here, we have a skilletfish, our local clingfish species that uses is suction cup-like pelvic fins to stick under crevices and in shells.
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Colton the fish sp💀💀ker 🐟🪴📚🏕️🐝 @fishsqueezer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The eponymous mussels (and beautiful filamentous aquatic moss) of Musselshell Creek in the Lolo/Clearwater basin of Central Idaho. #invert 🟢
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Dr. Sam Anderson @sam-science.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Happy new water-year! Welcome to hydrological 2027!
Mountains reflect on Widgeon CreekBraided streams on Devon Island, NU.Copper Island on Shuswap LakeReflections on Duffy Lake
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Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A small business in northern Minnesota is harvesting and selling invasive rusty crayfish, including to a James Beard award-winning restaurant in Minneapolis www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
mprnews.org
From lake to table: Turning Minnesota's invasive crayfish into a local delicacy
Rusty crayfish have invaded more than 300 northern Minnesota lakes. Can Midwestern appetites help manage a destructive invasive species?
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Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition @healthylakes.org · 30/09/2026
Thank you to all of our partners in the region who advocated for the GLRI's passage! And thank you to members of the Great Lakes delegation who moved this important legislation through, includ. leadership of @peters.senate.gov, Senator Moreno & Senator Husted www.healthylakes.org/latest-news/...
Lake Erie on a sunny day with overlay text: Federal Great Lakes program advances through Senate. The Senate has reauthorized the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), a federal program integral to the health of the Great Lakes and the 30 million people who depend on them for drinking water. 

The legislation now goes to the House for consideration and we look forward to Congress reauthorizing this bill before the end of the year.
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MSU Extension Center for Lakes and Streams @msue-lakes-streams.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This new research out of Wisconsin suggests that herbicide treatments for invasive plants like Eurasian watermilfoil should be weighed carefully against the possible negative impacts of treatment on the lake ecosystem.
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Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center @maisrc.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Tune in to @kare11.bsky.social tonight 6:00pm CT: MAISRC Scholar Denver Link featured discussing mercury increases in fish species following zebra mussel invasions. You can read more about this research in this recent @univofminnesota.bsky.social Research Brief: twin-cities.umn.edu/news-events/...
twin-cities.umn.edu
Mercury increases in multiple fish species following zebra mussel invasions
New research from the University of Minnesota found that zebra mussel invasions were associated with increased mercury concentrations in several Minnesota fish species.
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Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Sea lamprey are pretty funky!
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Kristen Behrens, PhD @behrenskristen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Alright fish folks I’m talking to some 4th and 5th graders at the museum next week about science and writing and need a good funky fish to test their observation skills + ability to remember things without writing them down (you bet I’m making a point). Any fish come to mind?
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Auburn SFAAS @auburnfisheries.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Do you call them crayfish, crawfish, crawdad, crawdadfish, crawdaddy, mudbug, or freshwater lobster? Come with us as we explore the fascinating world of these creatures and what we've been learning from them!
southernwaters.auburn.edu
Crayfish, Crawfish, and Crawdads
Imagine landing on and exploring a distant planet. But upon arriving, you discover an alien armored animal. It breathes through gills, carries its young beneath a tail, regenerates lost limbs, digs an...
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Ligus @greyauk.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I added another little painting to my Ko-fi - a smol and very red Chaunacops. The reference was Nautilus footage. 🐡 #SundayFishSketch #art #watercolour #noai ko-fi.com/s/440c260728
Photo of a very red passepartou. Inside is a painting of a very round and very red toad fish. It looks gentle
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Quake & Quiver @quakeandquiver.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Shovelnose sturgeon - hackleback, sand sturgeon, or switchtail #SundayFishSketch #sciart 🐡
a pen drawing in blue, green and dark red of two shovelnose sturgeon circling each other; the fish are surrounded by swirling water
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Better Know a Fish! / 曉得多魚! @betterknowafish.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
For #SundayFishSketch x Day 27 of #SciArtSeptember #Quill here is Ariopsis felis, the hardhead catfish. Which anyone who has fished the southeastern U.S. coast will have caught and cursed at loudly at least once. Those fin spines *HURT* 🐡🦑🧪
Photo of a crayon sketch of a hard head catfish
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Jayce the Creature Creator @creatorjayce.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Pumpkinseed Also coincidentally finished this just in time for Sunday Fish Sketch #fishart #sciart #sundayfishsketch
 A small pen, colored pencil, and acrylic marker illustration of a pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) against a deep blue background on Bristol board.
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Ryan Greenway @ryangreenway.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A blue wing olive mayfly and matching fly fishing lure for #SciArtSeptember / #SundayFishSketch 27 “quill.” Fly fishing lures aim to imitate small invertebrate prey of fish by combining natural and artificial materials, with quills making great segmented bodies for aquatic insect models.
Sketchbook page with watercolor illustration depicting a blue wing olive mayfly on the surface of the water, in the corner is an artificial fly fishing lure imitating the insect.
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Liz Butler @lizlagomorph.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A quillback rockfish. Not quite a drawing with a quill but with a dip pen, which feels of-a-sort. - #SundayFishSketch + #SciArtSeptember Day 27: Quill
An illustration of a quillback rockfish in a graphic style. The fish is defined by black line work and is coloured with purple, yellow, and teal gouache painting. The background is lilac purple. The fish is shown in profile and facing to the left.
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John F Tollefson @jftollefson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Day 26 - #quill A Quillback (Carpoides cyprinus). A medium-sized sucker that inhabits local rivers with gravel/sandy bottoms. If anyone has a good tutorial on doing scales…I generally avoid them like the plague, as you can see why here. #SciArtSeptember #SundayFishSketch #fishart #watercolor
Watercolor and ink illustration of a fish with a long quill-like dorsal fin. Side-view, facing right
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Sarage @sarahcpjones.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
27. Quill. Porcupine fish. I'm knackered and had to dig deep for that one. #SciArt #SciArtSeptember #SundayFishSketch
A face on drawing of a brown striped porcupine fish of some kind
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Kristen Behrens, PhD @behrenskristen.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
For the last #SciArtSeptember #SundayFishSketch, Day 27 Quill I did a lionfish which was an ambitious choice when I’m getting over a bug I picked up at the conference 😅
Colored pencil drawing of a lionfish. It seems proportionally to be more fin than fish and has a huge spiny 1st dorsal fin banded with brown-red. The other find are more spotted/lightly banded with brown. The body is a series of brown/red-brown/yellowish stripes. There is a little horn looking thing with a flag bit on the eye.
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Declan Troy @troydeclan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I wanted to photograph this moose as he was shedding velvet but on the big day he played hard to get. Once it was gone I couldn't shake him, he was everywhere I went. Chugach State Park #Alaska
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Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
No, Microsoft Word, I'm not writing about "dressed mussels," I am writing about "dressenid mussels"
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