iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Hmmm... The only ones I can think of from the #zebrafish world are Farrell & Wagner scRNAseq, Driever & CNV Zebrafish Issue, and Navajas-Acedo & Kucenas Rohon Beard Neurons. The second example has a ~450 citation disparity while the third is still really early to tell. Are people not citing both?

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Very cool observation! Definitely using this stunning lifecycle image by @beziostudio.bsky.social in presentations (with credit!) 😊

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Reposted by Kevin Thiessen, PhD

Pawel Burkhardt @pawelburkhardt.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Can a comb jelly choose whether to reproduce as a larva or grow up first? 🪼 Our new preprint shows that in Mnemiopsis leidyi, this depends on the density of other comb jellies. A story of surprising developmental plasticity! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵 1/4 📸 @beziostudio.bsky.social

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Affectionately called “The Soup Bucket,” this contains all the comb jellies I’ve refused to cull since I started 😫 Each speck is one jelly of various sizes (0.1 to 3 mm). I can see why people have trouble getting rid of this highly invasive species in the wild. They reproduce at pace! #TeamBob

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Definitely need to discuss having a variety of start times to accommodate other regions. E.g. Similar to what @isrbio.bsky.social does with their webinars.

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

These videos from @pawelburkhardt.bsky.social lab are definitely part of my #scicomm imaging goals! Every one from @alexandrejan.bsky.social & @joanjsoto.bsky.social are stunning 🤩

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Happy #CtenophoreDay! These lab-grown comb jellies are giving off lava lamp vibes 😎 I often get entranced whenever I feed them 😍 #TeamBob #Bobettes #ctenophore #scicomm

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

These were the size of the ones I saw in Woods Hole! 🤩

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Eventually I’ll decrease the density… but it makes for such cool photos 🤩

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Finally looking like your normal self, I see. Those other 11 months of the year you are looking quite ghastly.

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Reposted by Kevin Thiessen, PhD

Ctenophores Rock! @ctenophoresrock.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Happy #CtenophoreCtuesday! We feel like spitting fun facts today 😎 DYK: upon fusion, two comb jellies undergo rapid physiological integration (e.g. demonstrated by shared neuronal and digestive systems) 🪼🔗🪼 Credit video to @kei-jokura.bsky.social. Read more about it: www.cell.com/current-biol... 🦑

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Tessa Montague @tessamontague.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I'm excited to share our new preprint: Generation of a transgenic cephalopod tinyurl.com/pc86jxz8 Cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopus & squid) are crazy critters that dynamically camouflage to their surroundings by changing the color, pattern, & texture of their skin, which they control w their brain.

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Looking forward to hearing about all your work in Oxford!

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Also, shoutout to the #zebrafish community for helping me troubleshoot our (marine) rotifer culture setup!

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

What I like best about this video is near the end when some of Bob’s progeny swim into view and they are hunting the rotifers as well. Can you spot them? 😍

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Reposted by Kevin Thiessen, PhD

Ctenophores Rock! @ctenophoresrock.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This is Bob. They are a hermaphroditic comb jelly that recently underwent reverse development from adult lobate to larval cydippid, following a period of stress. The event reduced our colony to just Bob. Once our food source stabilized, Bob began to flourish & what was 1 Bob is now 500+ Bobettes! 🦑

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This is why university press release offices needs a science-literate member. Just wait until people find out they have just as many bacterial cells in their body as they do their own cells... "Illegal immigrant cells invade human body"

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Don't forget about dod, Robert, BOBa Fett, SpongeBOB. I've thought of this too much 😅

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Here are some comb jelly larvae (i.e. cydippids) to brighten your day 🪼 Two months ago, our colony got bottlenecked to one individual (Bob) and has since grown to over 500! #ctenophore #scicomm

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Congrats, Esra! Looking forward to your talk in Oxford!

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Reposted by Kevin Thiessen, PhD

Ctenophores Rock! @ctenophoresrock.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This video of Pleurobrachia sp. is giving us goose(berry)bumps on #CtenophoreCtuesday! 🫨🪼 Better known by the common name "sea gooseberry," these comb jellies are approximately the same size as the gooseberry fruits in your home garden. Credit video to @montereybayaquarium.org. #scicomm #MarineLife

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Same is true for deep-learning (actually useful) and LLMs (less useful) being grouped into AI. These distinctions are important to avoid blanket bans of both.

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Fully expecting M. Night Shyamalan to be a co-author

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Looking forward to meeting you in Oxford!

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Random bits of fish knowledge are kinda my thing. I remember the good stuff, especially cool alizarin red staining!

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

As a fish person, I was always jealous of the annotations/resources for the human genome. Now as a ctenophore researcher, I realize that #zebrafish people don't know how good they actually have it. A silver lining is that the struggles I had with the zebrafish genome have prepared me for this. 😵‍💫

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Work with #zebrafish models of human disease? Or maybe you want to bring awareness to a certain disease? Let ZDMS highlight your work and interests in our running series #KnowYourZDM, which we highlight how this mighty fish is advancing human research 🐟 💪 Reach out directly, if interested!

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Ironically, Moroz et al submitted their paper to Nature in Sept 2013. Two months later, Ryan et al practically "scooped" them with their Science publication, having only submitted their paper for review in July 2013. Now, both papers are cited at the same rate. Hopefully there were no hard feelings!

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Reposted by Kevin Thiessen, PhD

Anna Czarkwiani @aniaczark.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Looking forward to sharing my origin story 😁

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I now understand how quickly a comb jelly bloom can happen. Mnemiopsis are nuts. We had one larval comb jelly (aka cydippid) a month ago and now we are up over 100. 😳

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Reposted by Kevin Thiessen, PhD

Ctenophores Rock! @ctenophoresrock.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Happy #CtenophoreCtuesday! For your moment of zen, enjoy this tentacular (comb) jelly roll 🪼🌀 Captured by the ever-talented macro-photographer & scientist @adameykolab.bsky.social 🤩 Stay tuned for next week as we comb through the internet looking for all things #ctenophore! #MarineLife #scicomm

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Already having FOMO about Ctenopalooza Ctwo next week. But unfortunately, I can't leave the UK until my ILR is processed. 😩

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

When I was in Germany, they gave me a brick phone to communicate on campus. It was robust and I loved it!

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Finally caught a decent video of a comb jelly in action! This is Bob, the biggest one in our facility. Bob underwent reverse development due to stress & transitioned from an adult (lobate) back to a larva (cydippid). Now Bob is developing back into a lobate again! Science is so cool 🤩 #ctenophore

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Congrats on the paper! I keep seeing this GIF from #cichlid folks. It's terrific! Where does it come from? Is it an actual show on Netflix?

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Kevin Thiessen, PhD @kevinthiessen.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Between that and 'labeling/labelling' I'm all discombobulated

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