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GarLab

@garlab.bsky.social
1K followers 166 following 68 posts

🐟Conservation, research, and #SciComm 🐟Principal Investigator @solomonrdavid.bsky.social 🐟Co-authored by the #GarLab Team Views our own garlab.org

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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I’m teaching Intro to Marine Biology this semester and used these images in my first lecture. Unsure if either of them increased or decreased my credibility 😅😅😅 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social
A freshwater biologist and marine biologist sit on a shark-tagging vessel “RV Garvin” with the “Gar” crossed out. Meme from the “Marine Biologist” episode of Seinfeld.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Some familiar fishy faces at the Minnesota State Fair! Check out a standout Longnose Gar and Emerald Bowfin among many other Minnesota fishes at the @minnesotadnr.bsky.social fish pond! Their indoor exhibits also included Emerald Bowfin, Shovelnose Sturgeon, and Shortnose Gar!
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Titus Seilheimer @drfishsg.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Seeing a former summer intern now a PhD student and presenting at #AFS156: Priceless! @garlab.bsky.social @solomonrdavid.bsky.social
Gars on the screen, Gabby read to talk.
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Dr. Mike Booth @mikeboothlab.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Such cool fish and a great crew! And excited to add a few other species to my list, including Lake Chubsucker!
Lake chubsucker (Erimyzon succetta) captured in an inland Michigan lake
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Braasch Lab @ Michigan State University @fishevodevogeno.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Michigan spotted gar ✅ Wonderful day out on the lakes with @garlab.bsky.social and @mikeboothlab.bsky.social #EndlessFishMostBeautiful
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I recently returned to Michigan to collect Spotted Gars (focus species of my PhD) for new research @garlab.bsky.social! It’s been 18 years (!!!) since finding my very first Spotted Gar, grateful to be continuing our native fish conservation work today!
Fish scientist holds a Spotted Gar. Fish scientist holds a Spotted Gar.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Spotted Gars in Michigan are where it’s at! Getting back after these fish for the first time in 16 years (since my PhD research on the species)! Their patterns really pop in Michigan’s clear-water inland lakes! Fish will be used in age/growth/climate adaptation research @garlab.bsky.social!
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
GARS can be indicators of river-floodplain restoration from Minnesota down to Mississippi and Louisiana! Thanks @alexlubben.bsky.social for joining us in the field with photojournalist Sophie Germer for this story @nolanews.bsky.social! bit.ly/4brAgY0 @garlab.bsky.social
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Are Mississippi River restoration efforts working? Scientists say this fish could hold the answer.
They went 1,000 miles for one baby fish. Finding it means a Mississippi floodplain restoration is working.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
TOMORROW: the @garlab.bsky.social team returns to the Alligator Gar Rodeo… yes, it’s a real thing, and we get lots of valuable data from it, also great SciComm/outreach opportunity (it will be our 4th rodeo *not our first rodeo 😅*) Stay tuned!
Gar scientist holds open the jaws of an Alligator Gar (fish). 

Photo credit: Madison Sinopoli
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Believe it or not we have addressed this! Here you go: single gar = gar multiple gars, same species = garrison multiple gars, different species = garmada
Graphic showing the different terminology for a single gar, a group of gar of the same species, and group of gar of multiple species. They are called the following, respectively: gar, garrison, garmada.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
TFW it’s MORE than 100 gar!!!
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
The new @garlab.bsky.social measuring boards from Osprey Crafts are looking FINtastic! 📏🐟
Several fish measuring boards on a table. A fish measuring board with a GarLab logo.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Alligator Gars serving as indicators of Mississippi River floodplain health and restoration! Floodplains are vital to aquatic ecosystem function, and also mitigate floods in places we don’t want them (like residential areas). www.nfwf.org/media-center...
nfwf.org
Giving alligator gar a lifeline in the Lower Mississippi River
At dawn, the woods are hushed and damp. River water meanders between towering trees, and a long shadow glides just beneath the surface. A flash of silver breaches the surface before sliding back into ...
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
A native fish species is eating some of the most damaging invasive species in the Great Lakes…AND making a significant impact! Freshwater Drum: The overlooked native fish that has been crushing trillions of Zebra & Quagga Mussels in Lake Erie www.canr.msu.edu/news/freshwa...
An angler holds a Freshwater Drum prior to release.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Used this image in a paleontology conference talk, but it’s honestly how I feel/what I recall every time I’m next to one of these living fossils. Sam Neil’s portrayal of that childhood fascination, I have no words 🥹
Text on a slide reads:
“I’m not a paleontologist, however…
‘Same energy’” 
Referring to next photo of fish scientist next to an Alligator Gar, similar to Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant next to Triceratops in Jurassic Park. Photo of fish scientist next to an Alligator Gar, similar to Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant next to Triceratops in Jurassic Park.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
“Intergarlactic” Check out some Shortnose Gars from the Minnesota River during @garlab.bsky.social native fish research! @lollardfish.bsky.social & @noorwrites.bsky.social joined us that day too!
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
BREAKING:
Photo of LeBron James with a photoshopped (no AI!) GarLab logo on his jersey.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Electrofishing to study Minnesota’s native rough fish! Video by @noorwrites.bsky.social @startribune.com accompanying @lollardfish.bsky.social’s story on @garlab.bsky.social conservation research! Story Link: www.startribune.com/fishing-angl...
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Jason GRIZZLED Bittel @bittelmethis.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Look, I may have just had a 9.5% tall boy as I finish up some work -- which may explain my last skeet being a Fresh Prince rap about lightning bugs -- but you can *feel* the love and respect Solomon and his team have for these animals in these photos.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
From the GARgantuan to the handheld! Over the past 8 months we’ve encountered our largest gar (Alligator Gar in October) to one of the smallest (Shortnose Gar, today). My hand for “scale.”
Fish scientist’s hand on the head of a giant Alligator Gar (safely released after measurements). A very small, 36 mm Shortnose Gar in the palm of a fish scientist.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Native rough fish story by @lollardfish.bsky.social in today’s Star Tribune! Like our favorite living fossils, PRINT media is persistent and probably even more relevant in these AI times 📰👍
News paper image of a story on native rough fish in Minnesota, including Shortnose Gar.
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Minnesota Reformer @minnesotareformer.com · 22/06/2026
Native fish species like gar, buffalo, and redhorse could be killed en masse with no consequences, labeled "rough fish" for not being a "game fish" star like a walleye. For the first time, Minnesota is imposing bag limits and funding conservation research. minnesotareformer.com/2026/06/22/t...
minnesotareformer.com
Trash fish? More like some of the oldest — and most important — species in Minnesota • Minnesota Reformer
Until recently, these species were all classified as “rough fish,” or “trash fish.” None of them had limits or protections, and due to an outdated, frontier mentality toward wildlife in the water, the...
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Anthony of the Badlands @mosasaurologist.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Parked my butt on a little microsite thats pooping out a bunch of small stuff. SO MANY FISH BITS including gar and a bunch of freshwater ones I can't identify.
Fish vertebrae,  tooth and small bones on a yellowish sand, curatorial finger for scale
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Native rough fish research enlists Minnesota anglers www.outdoornews.com/2026/06/25/n... Story in Outdoor News (print too!) about @garlab.bsky.social collaboration with citizen science anglers and @bellmuseum.bsky.social for native fish outreach & conservation! By Justin Runberg
News print story about native fish conservation.
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
I'm really happy about this. Also a great video of Solomon doing fieldwork in the story, from @noorwrites.bsky.social, who came along with me and put together this great explainer video. Just a delight in the whole process.
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
This from @frankbures.bsky.social was published the same day as mine from @minnesotareformer.com and is more about the fishing and discusses the enemy to conservation and is a lovely piece.
minnesotareformer.com
Trash fish? More like some of the oldest — and most important — species in Minnesota. • Minnesota Reformer
Until recently, these species were all classified as “rough fish,” or “trash fish.” None of them had limits or protections, and due to an outdated, frontier mentality toward wildlife in the water, the...
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Thanks to @bsky.app, I met @solomonrdavid.bsky.social, visited his lab, read some journal articles, went out and did some fieldwork with him on a boat, and now have written this article. Takeaway: Ancient fish are cool. Science is cool. Public institutions should do cool ancient fish science. (gift)
startribune.com
Perry: Minnesota waters are full of ancient fish ― and the science behind them is pretty cool
Contributing columnist David M. Perry joined the U’s GarLab team on an electrofishing expedition June 15 to learn more about gar and other native rough fish species.
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robin stumbo @offishial-business.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
"we have @garlab.bsky.social at home" gar lab at home:
Screenshot of a fish research lab made in Animal Crossing New Horizons. A nonbinary character with a fish shirt and black bandana stares autistically at the camera, surrounded by a gar and sturgeon in tanks as well as various equipment such as coolers, microscopes, a pink lava lamp, and models of the human skeletal and muscular system.
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Onyx @advantage87.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
the gar genuinely born in the algae and molded by it in the reflecting pool is honestly one of the funnier crossovers between dc villains and aquatic biology this year
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
“The Reflecting Pool merely adopted the algae, Gar was born in it, molded by it”
Spotted Gars spawning in a pond.
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Art D. @artd.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
I'm sure that @garlab.bsky.social will be putting forth a competing proposal.
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
As an angler I had been vaguely following the native rough fish work happening in the state, but it was through bluesky that I got to know about the garlab, and things went from there.
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Yesterday a colleague from the Strib and I went electro fishing for gar with @solomonrdavid.bsky.social and his team. Story coming next week I expect. But this happened because Bluesky connects people.
Me and my colleague stand at the front of a boat holding Long netsSolomon holds up a gar towards the camera. Solomon is smiling widely. The gar seems less enthused.Solomon and I each hold a gar and smiled towards the camera.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Check out this Minnesota crossover (on the Minnesota River) today! @lollardfish.bsky.social x @garlab.bsky.social 😎👍
Two fish enthusiasts, an historian and an ecologist, hold Shortnose Gars (fish) with a river in the background.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
FIFA x @garlab.bsky.social CUBA: Cuban Gar 5/5
Map of Cuba overlaid with a Cuban Gar image, indicating the species occurrence in the country.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
FIFA x @garlab.bsky.social MEXICO: Tropical, Spotted, Longnose, and Alligator Gars 4/5
Map of the Mexico overlaid with images of a Tropical Gar, Spotted Gar, Longnose Gar, and Alligator Gar indicating their occurrence in the country.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
FIFA x @garlab.bsky.social USA: Spotted, Longnose, Shortnose, Florida, and Alligator Gars 3/5
Map of the continental United States overlaid with images of a Spotted Gar, Longnose Gar, Shortnose Gar, Florida Gar, and Alligator Gar indicating their occurrence in the country.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
FIFA x @garlab.bsky.social CANADA: Longnose Gar & Spotted Gar 2/5
Map of Canada overlaid with images of a Spotted Gar and Longnose Gar, indicating their occurrence in the country (in the Great Lakes basin)
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
The collab you didn’t know you needed! To celebrate the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, @garlab.bsky.social presents to you the 7 gar species of North America! ⚽️🐟🌎 1/5
Graphic showing FIFA World Cup logo and GarLab logo overlaid on a map of North America.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Totally not awkward pic of pet Cuban Gar saying hello 🤪
Cuban Gar (fish) in an aquarium with its mouth partially open.
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beetle moses @beetlemoses.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Let me check things out
Three panel comic. Panel 1: a guy wearing swim trunks and a snorkeling mask walks confidently into the ocean on a public beach surrounded by some scattered onlookers. He is carrying an electric lantern and his snorkeling tube is very tall, extending up and out of the frame. Panel 2: he continues forward into the water, nearly fully submerged with only the top of his head above water. The snorkel is still too tall to be seen completely in frame. The onlookers watch blankly as he disappears under the surface. Panel 3: the guy is walking casually at the abyssal floor of the ocean, where no light penetrates. His electric lantern illuminates his immediate vicinity. He is surrounded by a collection of weird deep sea creatures, including a deep sea isopod, vampire squid, chimaera, and barrel eye fish. Can you name all the creatures in frame?
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
What a difference 6 weeks can make! Impressive growth from our baby Alligator Gar @garlab.bsky.social!
Baby Alligator Gar on measuring board, approximately 15 mm long at 5 days old. Baby Alligator Gar in the palm of a hand, approximately 42 days old.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Garology is now a Smologies episode @ologies.bsky.social! LINK: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s... Thanks Alie Ward! “Ologies → Smologies. It’s all of the science, with none of the swearing! Smologies are shortened, kid-friendly episodes of the award-winning science podcast, Ologies”
Logo for the podcast “Smologies,” a shortened, kid-friendly version of the science podcast Ologies. Logo is overlayed on an image of a small alligator Gar.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
FINtastic to meet @lollardfish.bsky.social in person and have him visit @garlab.bsky.social!
Two a fish scientist and a historian stand in a research lab, with the historian holding an Alligator Gar (fish) head.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Immortalizing gar in children’s book chathamvoice.com/2026/05/27/i...
Scientist Dominique Rumball showcases a spotted gar pulled from the waters of the Keith MacLean Conservation Lands. Rumball, who continues to study the endangered fish, has written a children’s educational book on gar.
(Image courtesy of Craig Paterson)
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Please enjoy baby Alligator Gars feeding on brine shrimp (Artemia), set to a Bluey instrumental 🙂 🐟🧪gars are planktivorous at this stage (20 mm, 12 days post-hatch), but will soon switch to eating insects and fish! They’re also already breathing air!
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Enthusiasm from @governorwalz.mn.gov to hold the gar was real! Also appreciate him getting pics with the NEXT generation of native fish conservationists! Thanks again to Minnesotans and folks everywhere for their support of native fish! #NativeFishDay
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
“Ope, let me just move this gar, Governor” 🤝 #NativeFishDay @governorwalz.mn.gov
A gar-struck scientist shakes the hand of the FINtastic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (while holding a giant plush gar in the other hand).
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Here’s the official/offishal State of Minnesota proclamation for Native Fish Day!
Official state proclamation document for May 8, 2026 as “Native Fish Day” in Minnesota (but celebrating the importance of so-called “native rough fish” everywhere)!
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