Sign in

Jo Wolfe, PhD

@jopabinia.bsky.social
17K followers 2.9K following 19K posts

Why things evolve into crabs. Evolutionary biologist (species alive today AND fossils, and how to study them together). Canadian at UCSB and Harvard (she/her) My science: scholar.google.com/citations?user=C…

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Jaime Headden @jaimeheaddenart.bsky.social · 3h
I do draw, you know, for myself. It's not much, but I like to keep a hand in. Anyways. Did you know conodonts have the most terrifying mouths for their size of any animal in the world ... EVER? #conodont #uwu #sciart #adorkable #fossil #not-actually-teeth
Full figure illustration of a swimming lamprey-like, Pikaia-like conodont with HUGE cute eyes. It's labeled as "CUTE." (It is.)

Close up and under shot of same, with a cute little uwu mouth. This is canon! It's labeled as "CUTER" (It is!)

Close up and LARGE shot of same, but mouth open, showing cute little teeth protruding (conodonts are jawless, these are controlled by muscles that squeeze, extruding the three-fold "lips" into a sharp, thorny nightmare). It's labeled as "CUTEST" (It ... is totally subjective!)

The total animal would be inches long, at biggest, these teeth are not large (but they are COMPARATIVELY!)
3446
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Juicebox the bluecrab @bluecrabjuicebox.bsky.social · 5h
Crabs are already perfect just the size they are.
2113
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 6h
In the last couple of years, we've seen multiple critical collections (museums, herbaria) close. The IUCN--the global authority on the status of biodiversity--recently published on how important these kinds of facilities are in conservation. Every day, the dead are working to protect the living.
iucn.org
From collections to conservation: the indispensable role of natural history museums
The IUCN Species Survival Commission has published a Position Statement on the vital role of biological collections in biodiversity conservation: a formal acknowledgement that natural history museums,...
18450
Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 5h
I don't show the inside of my apartment for privacy reasons. But in advance of cold temps tonight and tomorrow, plants took over my living room and blocking half the couch. Tomatoes, bell pepper, basil, lemongrass 🌱 Photos: chard producing seeds (outside) and color of the pepper
The end of a long strand of weird chard flowers has green blobbys in the shape of chard seedsHalf of a bell pepper is dark red
1240
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Hiné Mizushima/水島ひね @sheishine.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Giant Flea (2021). Slurp slurp…🩸 チューチュー吸う巨大ノミちゃん🩸 #hinemizushima #flea #bug #art #水島ひね
113941
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 13h
Some nice news to start your Monday: Wētāpunga breeding program showing great results 🙂 www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
‘The future is bright’: breeding programme brings world’s heaviest insect back from the brink
Wētāpunga can weigh as much as a mouse and its numbers dwindled across New Zealand due to predators and habitat loss
05820
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Jessica Price @delafina777.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This should be so obvious that it doesn’t need to be said, but given what kind of weekend it’s been on here, apparently it does: If you don’t want old rapists running the world, in office, in the board room, making decisions for all of us get comfortable with “ruining” young rapists’ lives
1850211331
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
The Crustacean Society @crustaceansociety.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
🇧🇷 Save the date for ICC 2027 in Natal, Brazil!🦀 The XI International Crustacean Congress (ICC 2027) is coming up next year, and we’re excited to share the confirmed dates for this exciting conference for crustacean researchers. 📅 27–31 July 2027 📍 Natal, Brazil We look forward to seeing you! 🦀🇧🇷
073
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Elizabeth Beston @elizabethbeston.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Such a handsome copepod nauplius! I /think/ this could be a nauplius from the family Siphonostomatoida. #marineplankton 🔬🦑
2968
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Ctenophores Rock! @ctenophoresrock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
October 4th (10/04 or "Ten-O-Four") is #CtenophoreDay for those that use the MM-DD format 🪼 Celebrate the occasion by sharing your favorite comb jelly photos and videos throughout the day! And don't forget to add the hashtag #CtenophoreDay to your posts 😊 #ctenophore #combjelly #scicomm #marinelife
A lobate comb jelly in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Photo: Chad King/NOAA
1346
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Robert Back @rback.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Silurian reef based on fossils from Gotland, Sweden. Originally made for the Museum of Evolution in Uppsala. © Robert Back #Paleontology #Sciart 🐡 #Paleoart #Silurian #MarineLife 🦑 #Biodiversity #Lifeonearth
Silurian reef based on fossils from Gotland, Sweden.
© Robert Back1. Calymene, 2. Poleumita, 3. Atrypa, 4. Euomphalopterus, 5. Platyceras, 6. Fenestrella, 7. Leptaena, 8. Neopalaeaster, 9. Bucania, 10. Pentomeroceras, 11. Celticystis, 12. Gissocrinus, 13. Eucalyptocrinus, 14. Cystiophyllum, 15. Halysites, 16. Heliolites, 17. Favosites, 18. Enthelophyllum, 19. Acervularia, 20. Coenites, 21. Hallopora, 22. Svampdjur (sponge), 23. Stromatoporoid
1439
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
JA Fields | NonCompliantCyborg @noncompliantcyborg.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Happy #CtenophoreDay! 🦑🐙🧪 I’m an equal-opportunity cteno celebratory so I observe both October 4th and April 10th when it comes to appreciating our shared cousins that have been out doing their own thing for hundreds of millions of years.
You’re invited! To celebrate your most distant animal cousins you may not even have heard of… text is rainbow and surrounded by gooey transparent animals with rainbows running down their bodies CTENOPHORES sometimes pronounced
"Ten-oh-fours
are phylum of marine invertebrates that use little plates of hair called ctenes to swim and/or create currents to bring food to them. Their beating ctenes bend the light, causing rainbows to dance down their bodyWe celebrate ctenophores on October 4th and on April 105) because their name sounds like 10/04 (ten oh four) Participating in #Docktober on Ctenophore Day? Join the iNat project and add any ctenos you find from the docks. QR code linking to the project ctenophore day 2026 flanked by two photos of ctenos - a feather boa cydippid and a Haeckelia rubra
24918
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The 12yo has declared it Peniagone Sp. Sea Cucumber nicknamed “Loki” awareness day! This little weirdo recently discovered in 2,577 metres depth in the Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon off Argentina has horn-like appendages which reminded researchers of the Norse god.
oceanographicmagazine.com
Meet "Loki", a sea cucumber among 57 new deep-sea species - Oceanographic
Meet "Loki", the horned sea cucumber among 57 new species and five new genera identified from Mar del Plata Canyon in just two weeks.
14517
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Lisa @tuexplorer1.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Hermit crab wearing scaphopod shell 🦀 @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 964 #samplinggap #MarineLife
25614
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Chris Gug @gugunderwater.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Armed & dangerous! Lobsters have a early life stage called phyllosoma, wherein they drift through the open ocean, and have the coolest habit of taking stinging siphonophores prisoner for defense Shot on scuba, while drifting in the open ocean, out over the deep abyss, at night, far offshore
624249
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Michael Rosenberg @mrosenberg.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A few weeks ago I realized that it has been almost 29 years since I started the #fiddlercrab information webpages. This mind-blowing realization gave rise to some introspection about how/why the site was created, which I have now explained on a new About page: www.fiddlercrab.info/about.html 🦀🧪🦑
fiddlercrab.info
About fiddlercrab.info
Fiddler Crabs
1146
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
でんか @k-hermit.com · 03/10/2026
When you gaze into the abyss, there’s a cute little crab gazing back at you. 🦀
334187
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
CZEdwards @czedwards.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Thread. Especially important to have in your mental notes file if you ever do any press.
02611
Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This became relevant because Hannah Fry, who interviewed us, is on UK celebrity Traitors! Bella Ramsey is also on the show, which makes me only 3 degrees of separation from Pedro Pascal. Yes that's where my mind went lolol
0100
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
#InverteFest announcement: The December art book will be our 8th and last edition. We've been doing this since 2024 but my real life responsibilities have changed. We might revive the idea in the future in one form or another, but no promises. If you want in, this is your last chance.
1311349
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Dan Killam @dantheclamman.blog · 02/10/2026
Blue and green are rare colors for shells (and rare across life in general). A new study finds blue shells may be due to carotenoid pigments, while green is due to structural coloration! (368) www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-…
Pictures of various green and blue shells in the studyCross sections showing how the pigments are distributed through the shells, with some condensed into layers while others are more evenly distributed
1418
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
beetle moses @beetlemoses.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Three panel comic. Panel 1: underwater ocean camera view of a whale fall on the sea floor, with various bottom feeders and weird fishes crawling around the decomposing remains. Off panel, someone says, “hang on a second…” Panel 2: the speaker is a member of a marine biologist crew, remotely viewing the video footage from a computer monitor. The biologist is leaning against his colleague’s chair. He continues, “pan the camera back.” Panel 3: Back underwater, the POV shifts to the other end of the whale carcass. There’s a large spider crab with a standing just off to the side. It has a human face in a neutral expression, and is wearing glasses. The marine biologist says, “I think I went to high school with that guy.”
3472371078
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Evelyndroid's Aperture Science and Bugge-Finding 🏳️‍⚧️🕷️ @apsciencebylyn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Tmarus minutus, a very silly tiny crab spider which is rarely seen (you gotta dig deep into marshy/savannah grasses to find them) and not actually known to be in Florida until recently. I love her
Long dark red crab spider with orange legs and bulging eyes, chilling on grey fabric
812517
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Leigh Anne Riedman @fossils.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Looking for phylogenetic diversity in your meal? The answer is in your local pond water-- Protists: it's what's for dinner!
0132
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Stephne Tate @quailtea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Steller’s Sea Cow- extinct 1768 <3
6409135
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Dezene Huber 🍁 🌻 @dezene.me · 01/10/2026
Since it looks like we're going to be getting a new bitumen pipeline out to Canada's west coast, it's a good day to re-read this: www.cbc.ca/news/politic... 🌎
cbc.ca
75 of these whales remain. A new West Coast pipeline would be 'devastating' for them, experts say | CBC News
Multiple environmental groups are concerned the Alberta government's proposed oil pipeline route poses a risk to southern resident killer whales. They are protected under the Species At Risk Act, but ...
21917
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Nico Mongiardino Koch @nmkphylo.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I am looking for graduate students to join my lab in Fall 2027. If your interests lie within the realms of phylogenetics, macroevolution, and/or invertebrate biodiversity please reach out to me!!
12521
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Never trust the GUI, only command line
6273
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
In!
Painted anemone
081
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Happy spood month, know your spoods #arachtober #InvertebrateShitposting
a doodle in four parts.

top left is a doodle of a jumping spider with massive adorable eyes. text says, a spood.

top right is the butt of a spider that has run off screen. text says, a spood doin' a scoot.

bottom left, a pair of spiders stacked on top of one another, hugging. text says, two spoods doin' a spoon.

bottom right, a spider covered in cloth like a sheet ghost, with speech bubble saying insect populations are experiencing a sharp decline, threatening every part of their food chain, including birbs, spoods, and the agricultural produce they pollinate. the text says a spood doin' a spook.
6346104
Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
are we anemoneposting? 🦑
giant green anemone, somewhat more furled into itself than Matt's, with the same multiple round structures (I don't know what they're called) surrounding the manus/mouth-anus
44712
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
pikaole @pikaole.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Moonlit night
92420807
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Iron Spike @ironspike.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This. I strongly believe a lot of men have no idea how often women contend with this, and how it can stunt their ambitions.
01206306
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Yes every woman has been harassed, many assaulted. But every woman has also experienced invisible loss from moments she avoided harassment. She felt a space becoming unsafe, so she left, while men stayed on. And in leaving, she lost: opportunities, experiences, learning, promotions, even simply fun.
168186634685
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
C. Chen @ Jamsteeeec @squamiferum.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
[New Paper] Presents the first record of tubeworm-parasitic copepod Dirivultus spinigulatus from Japan! A range extension from Papua New Guinea. And a new Japanese name, based on a devil fruit from the manga series ONE PIECE! OPEN ACCESS in the journal Species Diversity: doi.org/10.12782/spe...
1187
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Geoff Read @annelidsci.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Unusual for taxonomy. Retraction for fake citations. doi.org/10.11646/zoo...
Retraction notice because of fake citations from the taxonomy journal Zootaxa for a review article on Phylum Annelida by Hasan, Reynolds, et al
23513
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Dorliza Copa @dorlizacopaarts.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I’ve made it mostly through #shrimptember26, posting on my personal IG stories. I don’t know whether it’s worth the trouble to have a third IG account for my 2D art. Anyway, here is a sea flea found deep in the ocean. #sciart #oceanart #amphipod #shrimptember
A watercolor painting of an amphipod or sea flea found deep in the ocean, painted in rose pink for the body and bright red for the legs. Epimeria larsi
0297
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
KetrinaDrawsALot @ketrinadrawsalot.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
SHRIMPtember 🦐 The tiger mantis shrimp is the world's largest stomatopod, growing up to 40 cm long. The giant fairy shrimp is the world's largest fairy shrimp, growing up to 8.6 cm long. #shrimptember #mantisshrimp #brineshrimp #education #SciArt
A stripey tiger mantis shrimp (Lysiosquilla maculata)A giant fairy shrimp (Branchinecta gigas) swimming upside-down
0359
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
KetrinaDrawsALot @ketrinadrawsalot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
SHRIMPtember 🦐 The arrow shrimp has an unusually long snoot. When threatened, they cling to blades of seagrass and try to blend in. #shrimptember #arrowshrimp #education #SciArt
A green arrow shrimp (Tozeuma carolinense)
13613
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
KetrinaDrawsALot @ketrinadrawsalot.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
SHRIMPtember 🦐 The giant red mysid is a deep-sea dweller. When threatened, they produce a luminescent cloud as a distraction and escape. #shrimptember #mysid #education #SciArt
A giant red mysid shrimp (Gnathophausia ingens)
0252
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Robin @lcskeleton.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The last bit of #shrimptember I will be able to do days 17, 18, and 19. Personal life has been kicking my butt but I will have more to show off soon!
1234
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
KetrinaDrawsALot @ketrinadrawsalot.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
SHRIMPtember 🦐 Strange Shrimp Sunday (but technically Anomalocaris existed before crustaceans were even a thing) #shrimptember #anomalocaris #paleoart #SciArt
Four orange Anomalocaris on a sea-green background
04917
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
cool ourple dog @crickitt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
not stopping in my #shrimptember quest!!! I still wanna do the ones i missed in october ; 3 paint them all... #shrimp #crab #lobster
16116
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
KetrinaDrawsALot @ketrinadrawsalot.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
SHRIMPtember 🦐 Twofer Tuesday (see alt text for shrimp facts) #shrimptember #amphipod #freshwatershrimp #education #SciArt
Lake Baikal is home to hundreds of species of amphipod, including giant spiny ones! These grow up to 7cm long.The California freshwater shrimp is only found in a few waterways in the Northern Bay Area. It camouflages itself with a translucent body and chromatophores.
0183
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
KetrinaDrawsALot @ketrinadrawsalot.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
SHRIMPtember concludes a Devonian decapod whose descendants become shrimp 🦐, lobsters 🦞, and crabs 🦀 (but not Dendrobranchiata -- prawns 🍤). #shrimptember #palaeopalaemon #paleoart #education #SciArt
The ancient ancestor of shrimp, Palaeopalaemon newberryi, as a spooky ghost
23511
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Emotional support crab (emoji) 🦀
A yellow round cartoon, with eyestalks and claws because it is a stylized crab. It is holding a pink heart and smiling
517729
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 30/09/2026
One of the most harrowing things about academia, when you're a grad student, is how vulnerable you are to how you're perceived by more senior researchers. Your career advancement depends on confidential letters of reference & private discussions amongst faculty. You have no information or control.
13882146
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
Rav BOO!dram 🎃👻 @rvbdrm.com · 30/09/2026
First Nations children are still waiting for safe schools, clean water, adequate housing and equitable services. Meanwhile, Canada somehow finds urgency when the “national interest” is pipelines, mines and major projects. Reconciliation has to mean more than wearing orange once a year. 🧡
219587
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
RaySocietyBooks @raysocietybooks.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Cover approved for forthcoming public’n of Marine crabs and lobsters from Gulf of Mexico.. D.Felder Part 1: Intro, image prep, morphology, keys to families, species & infraorders Stenopodidea, Polychelida,Achelata,Astacidea, Axiidea,Gebiidea and superfamilies Chirostyloidea,Galatheoidea,Hippoidea
1112
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
RaySocietyBooks @raysocietybooks.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Cover approved for forthcoming public’n of Marine crabs and lobsters from Gulf of Mexico.. D.Felder Part 2: Keys + species accounts for Paguroidea,Raninoidea, Homolodromioidea,Dromioidea,Homoloidea,Cyclodorippoidea,Dorippoidea, Leucosioidea,Calappoidea,Aethroidea, Parthenopoidea,Majoidea,Palicoidea
1104