iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

My latest paper on leopard frogs tries to find patterns of adaptation related to climate and land use (particularly exposure to pesticides) in North Dakota.

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Reposted by Justin Waraniak

Evolutionary Applications @evolappjournal.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

With rapid environmental shifts, preserving locally adapted populations is critical. New study maps genomic regions associated with climatic factors in leopard frog (Rana pipiens). This may help us understand if these frogs can keep up with changing climate doi.org/10.1111/eva.70298

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Andy Lee, PhD @andylee.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

I am still actively looking for postdoc positions — please lmk if you (or your friends and colleagues) need a hardworking postdoc with field, lab, and bioinformatic skills! I am broadly interested in evolution in the ocean, conservation and population genetics, and rapid evolution.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Happy Pride! The diversity of life, in all its forms, is pretty rad! (Side note: there's not a whole lot of purple fish, so the pink/silver goldeye is the best I got) #SundayFishSketch #Pride

Six fish arrayed diagonally over the top of a rainbow pride flag. At the top left on the red stripe is a northern redbelly dace (Chrosomus eos), on orange is a male rainbow darter (Etheostoma caeruleum), a shorthead redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum) on the yellow stripe, a northern pike (Esox lucius) for the green stripe, an orangespotted sunfish (Lepomis humilus) on the blue strip and a goldeye (Hiodon alosoides) on the purple stripe.

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Jennifer Clausen @jacsciart.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

I've been camping almost every weekend as of late so haven't been able to post #SundayFishSketch, but here is an edited version of my Rainbow Trout illustration with altered coloring in honor of #PrideMonth.

An illustration of a Rainbow Trout, but instead of the realistic coloring on the body, the colors make a rainbow in honor of Pride month.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

I have a new paper out in Environmental Biology of Fishes on the effects of parasites on the life history of White Sands Pupfish! The two main findings being: 🧵(1/3) rdcu.be/eptDZ

rdcu.be

Life history trade-offs mediated by digene parasites in the protected White Sands pupfish (Cyprinodon tularosa)

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

To celebrate the start of Pride Month, here are some Pride rainbow trout! Happy Pride everyone! #SundayFishSketch

Digital illustration of a rainbow trout, recolored with the colors of the bi pride flag, with dark blue on top, pink along the side, and deep magenta along the belly.

Digital illustration of a rainbow trout recolored with the colors of the trans pride flag with light blue along the top and belly, pink along the sides, and a white stripe along the lateral line.

Digital illustration of a rainbow trout recolored with the colors of the lesbian pride flag with oranges along the top, purples along the belly, and a white stripe along the lateral line.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

A little late, but finished a least darter for #SundayFishSketch! The mating displays of this species may not be as intense as some other darters, but males of this species still develop bright red blotches on their fins!

Digital illustration of a breeding male least darter (Etheostoma microperca). This fish has a long oval-shaped body with a nearly rectangular tail that accounts for about a third of the length. It has a small mouth and dark stripes crossing the eye, one going from the top of the gill cover horizontally across the eye to the snout, the other starting just above the eye and continuing down across the cheek. It has two dorsal fins, the first spiny with sharp bony spines, the second soft supported by fan-like bony filaments. The tail fin is fan-shaped with no fork or distinct lobes. The anal fin has two sharp spines in the front before more soft rays arcing behind to make the rest of the fin. The pectoral and pelvic fins are large and very close together near the gill cover. The body is a mottled green-yellow color with dark brown splotches along the midline. There are bright red splotches on fin membrane between the rays of the first dorsal fin, pelvic fins, and anal fin.

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Reposted by Justin Waraniak

Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Today (May 19) is the final day to provide comments on the Endangered Species Act rule change - here's some info about how to submit a comment: esa.org/esablog/2025...

esa.org

ESA Action Alert: Comment on proposed rescission of the Endangered Species Act’s definition of “harm” – Ecotone | News and Views on Ecological Science

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Some old art of the Quitobaquito pupfish, an endangered species endemic to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and the Sonoyata River along the Arizona-Mexico border! #SundayFishSketch #CincoDeMayo

A digital illustration of a Quitobaquito pupfish (Cyprinodon eremus). This fish has a large head with a small mouth and a short, stout body. It has one trapezoidal dorsal fin along its back. The tail is very stout and the tail fin is shaped like a pentagon. There are small pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins along the fish's underside. This fish is bright blue in color with four darker teal bars along its back and a yellowish splotch on the upper side of the tail. The Mexican flag is in the background.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

A johnny (the Baptist?) darter for this week's Easter-themed #SundayFishSketch! I was out doing some stream sampling this week and the darters were all colored up in their breeding colors, one of the surest signs of spring!

Digital illustrations of johnny darters, with the male breeding pattern shown in the upper left and the normal coloration in the bottom right. These fish have long cylindrical bodies and somewhat froglike faces with relatively small mouths and a gill cover that comes to a sharp point. They have two large dorsal fins along the back, the first with bony spines and the second with soft rays. The tail is fan-shaped and has no fork. The pectoral and pelvic fins are large and shaped like leaves. The breeding male has a dark grey head and belly, has dark stripes along the side of the body, and has dark grey fins with light colored rays and lots of dark spots. The normal coloration is more uniformly light brown with some small dark saddles on the back, markings in the shape of w's and x's along the side, and light colored fins with sparser spots. Both color morphs have a dark teardrop marking under the eye.

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Reposted by Justin Waraniak

Jennifer Clausen @jacsciart.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Have been working on an illustration of Chiasmodon niger and decided to modify it a bit to fit today's #SundayFishSketch theme.

An in progress illustration of a Black Swallower fish. This fish lives in the deep sea and is brown to black in color with a long, thin body. It has a pretty large eye and very large mouth that leads to a stomach that can extend to several times its regular size, sometimes even becoming partly transparent. This allows the fish to eat prey larger than itself. In this illustration, I added some colorful Easter eggs in its stomach to fit with the Sunday Fish Sketch theme.

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Reposted by Justin Waraniak

Jennifer Clausen @jacsciart.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

The finished illustration of a Devil's Hole Pupfish. #SciArt

An illustration of a Devil's Hole Pupfish. The fish is facing the left. The scales are a brown ochre color near the top of the fish, but are a sky blue along the sides, fading to a more cream color along the belly. Just below the eye, the coloring is more purple and pink, with some blue. The fins are almost white (supposed to represent clear) in color, but each has a black margin.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

I feel like winter ice fishing is the prime season for catching burbot, and I live in the wrong part of the country to catch them now, but I always thought the eelpout festival in Minnesota looked kind of fun! #SundayFishSketch

Digital illustration of a burbot (Lota lota). This is a long eely fish closely related to cod. It has one long barbel on its chin. It has a small eye and a short, stout head. There are two dorsal fins on its back, the first short and roughly square shaped, and the second equal in height, but about four times as long. The anal fin is almost a direct mirror of the second long dorsal fin, just on the bottom side of the fish. The tail fin is comparatively small and round in shape. The pelvic fins and pectoral fins are similarly shaped, very close together, and positioned just behind the gill cover. The body of the fish is covered in tiny scales that are barely visible. The belly of the fish is a light cream in color, while the top side and the fins are covered in yellowish-orange splotches on a mottled dark brown background.

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Lise Viollat - Uninaagi @liseviollat.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

I made a little mini zine about eels hehehe #sundayfishsketch

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Reposted by Justin Waraniak

Jason Keagy @jasonkeagy.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

This is a bit delayed because I’ve been distracted by the world going to shit, but… We published a paper that I am so very excited about: doi.org/10.1016/j.sc... In this study we tracked brook trout response to heat waves in nature using gene expression from non-lethal gill biopsies. (1/n)

doi.org

Redirecting

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

It was the trout season opener this weekend in Pennsylvania, so to celebrate here's a brown trout! #SundayFishSketch

Digital illustration of a brown trout (Salmo trutta). This fish has a torpedo-shaped body with a large mouth. The lower jaw is longer than the upper jaw. It has one rectangular dorsal fin and a small round adipose fin on its back. The tail is wide and very slightly forked. The body is brown with some orange and yellow highlights and is covered in dark red and brown spots of varying sizes, some with light colored outlines. The whole body is covered in very small scales.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Inking some spots for the next fish I'm working on. Any guesses on who they belong to? #SundayFishSketch #WIP

Closeup of a work in progress digital illustration of a fish. The close-up only shows the side of the fish, with no fins or parts of the head visible. The field of the fish's body is an orange-brown, darker on top with a brighter yellow cream color on the bottom. There are also tons of spots, some larger brownish-red ones with light colored outlines, smaller densely packed dark grey spots, and even smaller sparse bright red spots.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

I'm really excited to share our most recent paper on gene expression in wild populations of brook trout in response to heatwaves! We identified candidate biomarkers of heat stress and tracked changes across the whole transcriptome in multiple populations. (1/5) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Graphical abstract for a study about the transcriptomic response of brook trout to heat stress. The abstract starts with an illustration of a brook trout in the upper left, with a cutout zooming into an illustration of the fish's red stringy gill filaments. An arrow points from the gill filaments to an illustration of mRNA molecules. Next to the fish illustration is a chart tracking temperature during the study with date on the x-axis (from July 15 to August 15) and daily high temperatures showing two roughly week long periods of elevated temperatures (>20ºC), each followed by periods of cooler temperatures (~18ºC). A text box below the graph reads: "Brook trout (N=116) gill samples were collected 8 times across 4 streams over the course of successive heatwaves. Gill mRNA was sequenced using TagSeq."

The abstract continues with a summary of the results. "Potential biomarkers tracked temperature" appears over a series of graphs that overlay the expression levels of a heat shock protein on top of the temperature trends in each stream through time. The lines tracking temperature and the amount of heat shock protein mRNA look very similar. "Trajectory analysis tracked changes in the whole transcriptome through time" appears above a graph describing how expression changed during each of the sampled time points along two principal component axes. A text box to the right reads: "Results: 43 temporally differentially expressed genes detected. Most patterns in the transcriptomic response were conserved among streams. Significant differences in expression patterns between streams for many differentially expressed genes and multivariate metrics of whole transcriptome changes." "Gene functions found in multiple analyses" appears above three illustrations, a thermometer representing heat shock proteins, red blood cells representing oxygen binding, and a T-cell representing the immune response.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

I re-drew a common shiner for this week's #SundayFishSketch! This was one of the first fish I drew while figuring out my digital art workflow, and it's fun to see how my style has developed over the years! #redraw

Two digital illustrations of common shiners, the more recent one in the upper left and the older one in the lower right. Both have deep fusiform bodies, large eyes, red bellies, and red tips on all the fins. Both are also covered in tall shiny diamond-shaped scales. The main differences are that the older lower illustration has a high-contrast dark colored back and very simply drawn light-colored eye, while the newer drawing has a more naturalistic lower contrast dark silver back, a more detailed dark colored eye, and a series of small breeding tubercles on the top of its head.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Did you know: NOAA manages US marine fisheries, including the fisheries in the Great Lakes! So if you like having sustainable local fisheries, thank NOAA scientists (and maybe advocate against the indiscriminate firing policies pushed by power-crazed billionaires). #SundayFishSketch #LakeWhitefish

Digital illustration of a lake whitefish. This fish is closely related to salmon and has a similar body shape. The mouth is small and opens beneath the snout. The fish has one short square-ish dorsal fin halfway down its back and a small circular adipose fin closer to the tail. The tail is robust and the tail fin is very deeply forked. The body is a dusky greenish gray, darker on top and lighter on the belly. It is covered in hundreds of small shiny scales.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

This is devastating. One of the goals of REU programs is to provide opportunities for underrepresented groups. REUs were the way I got my foot in the door to do research and figured out that I liked working in genetics. Gutted for the students affected by this.

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Jennifer Clausen @jacsciart.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

I finally finished my Spotted Gar illustration for today's #SundayFishSketch 🐡

An illustration of a Spotted Gar. The fish is long and thin, with a long, thin nose. The back is a darker olive-brown, and fades to pale cream towards the belly. The fins have a slight orange-red hue to them, and the body of the fish is covered in dark, irregular spots.

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Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Calling all budding artists! This year's Wildlife Forever Fish Art Contest has a #GreatLakes Fish specialty award. K-12 students are eligible. And who doesn't want the chance to win a model of a sea lamprey?! Submissions are due Feb. 28 #sciart www.theartofconservation.org/great-lakes-...

A screenshot of the requirements for the Great Lakes Fish Prize for an annual Fish Art contest. The text has a list of fish species from the Great Lakes.

A screenshot of the prizes for winning the Great Lakes specialty award.

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American Fisheries Society @amfisheriessoc.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Today, we share our love for federal #fisheries professionals who work tirelessly to address the myriad problems facing our nation’s fisheries. We urge the Administration to stop indiscriminate mass firings and to build and maintain a sufficient federal natural resource workforce.

A pink box with heart border and text reading, "We Love Our Federal Fisheries Workforce! Federal fisheries professionals are American heroes who safekeep our fisheries and aquatic resources
for all of us."

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Since it's the Super Bowl, here's a repost of a carmine shiner, native to the KC area (and that I drew for the Chiefs last year 😞) and a brook trout, the state fish of Pennsylvania! Go Birds I guess? #SundayFishSketch

Digital illustration of a carmine shiner. This minnow has a slender, torpedo-shaped body. It has a large eye and a fairly large mouth that extends underneath the front of the eye. It has a single small dorsal fin, a moderately forked tail, and a trapezoidal anal fin. The body is mostly olive brown, but there are hints of red on the head, the belly, along the lateral line, and at the origins of the fins.

A digital illustration of a brook trout. This fish has a triangular head with a very large mouth that extends well past the eye. The body is torpedo-shaped with a rectangular dorsal fin and small round adipose fin on the top. The tail is fan-shaped with a small notch at the fork. The pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins are bright red-orange, except the leading edges which are white with a black border. The body is mostly green with bright yellow spots and small blue and red bullseye patterns across the sides. The coloration along the back has squiggly yellow shapes instead of spots.

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Michigan Sea Grant @miseagrant.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

NOAA includes offices like us! We fund and conduct work like: - hands-on teacher trainings - sturgeon restoration - grad student research - learn-to-fish camps - flood recovery and prevention Every federal $1 that goes to a Sea Grant program reaps $3 in benefits for coastal communities!

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Kevin Bird @stairwaytokevin.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

The dismantling of American Science continues. The Organismal Response to Climate Change grant call has been cancelled. The NSF Director is a disgrace

Email text:
[EXT] Grants.gov
Opportunities Update
External Email
The following grant opportunities were created, updated, or deleted on Grants.gov:
NSF
National Science Foundation
25-504 - Organismal Response to
Climate Change
Deletion Comments: Opportunity deleted

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Allie Martin, PhD @alliemartin.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

I sure hope my postdoc dreams aren't thwarted by this federal funding freeze and review 🙃 My heart goes out to those that are going to be even more severely affected by this--people that rely on healthcare research & supply, educational programs, disaster relief, etc. Call your reps.

Call script for members of Congress on the Trump Administration freezing all federal aid

YOU: Hi, my name is [NAME]. I’m calling from [ZIP CODE].

YOU: I am calling on [HOUSE MEMBER/SENATOR] to speak out against President Trump’s actions on Monday in freezing all federal aid. This is blatantly illegal; the Executive Branch can’t unilaterally decide to ignore laws that were passed by Congress, especially when it comes to financial aid.

YOU: Members of Congress must take action, and clarify how they will stop the freeze and ensure that the millions who are directly impacted by financial aid will not be harmed.

YOU: [OPTIONAL COMMENT]
E.g. your status as a researcher relying on these funds

Adapted from @CelestePewter
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

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Reposted by Justin Waraniak

Jennifer Clausen @jacsciart.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

A sketch of a Lovely Hatchetfish for today's #SundayFishSketch #Sciart

A sketch of a Lovely Hatchetfish. The fish is facing toward the left. Its mouth is slightly open, and it has a large eye for seeing in dark water. The scales are elongated vertically.

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Ale the marinebioartist 🌊 @marinebiologale.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Ocean science friends! The American Fisheries Society is planning on removing certain words like inclusivity and safety from their 5 year plan. They are voting on this on Thursday, so please share your dissent and fill out the form here. Please also share! #oceansci docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.com

5-Year Strategic Plan Development Feedback Form

AFS's strategic planning committee, a group of volunteers charged with designing a document intended to guide the Society for 5 years, recently released its final draft to the Governing Board for comm...

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

The lake chub is a widespread minnow found throughout most of Canada, a few watersheds in the northern lower 48, and is the only minnow native to Alaska! #SundayFishSketch

Digital illustration of a lake chub (Couesius plumbeus). This minnow has a torpedo-shaped body. The mouth is fairly short, opening just underneath the tip of the snout and does not extend under the eye. There is one trapezoidal dorsal fin about halfway down the body. The lake chub has fan-shaped pectoral fins low on the body just behind the gill cover, and smaller pelvic fins further down the body, on the underside opposite the dorsal fin. The chub also has a short anal fin at the base of its tail. The caudal fin is deeply forked. The body is a dark dusky green on top and beige on the bottom with a dark black stripe bordered with some gold color along the midline, extending onto the gill cover and ending just behind the eye. Except for the head and gill cover, the whole body is covered in small scales.

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Reposted by Justin Waraniak

SillySugarGliders @sillysugargliders.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

off topic #sundayfishsketch cuz i just spent all week embroidering my favorite fish, the redtail catfish! #sciart

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

Rainbows 🌈 are a classic sign of good luck, so here is a rainbow darter to start the year! I always love spotting these little fish bringing a dash of brilliant color to midwestern streams! #SundayFishSketch

Digital illustration of a male rainbow darter in full breeding coloration. This fish has a cylindrical body with a short, wide head, large round cheeks, and a short flat snout. There is a small hump on the back just behind the head. There are two long dorsal fins along the back. The first one has sharp spines and is blue on top and orange below. The second dorsal fin has soft rays and is mostly orange with a blue border. The dorsal fin is fan shaped and is less colorful, but has some small orange and blue spots in between the fin rays. There is a blue anal fin below the second dorsal fin, and it has three sharp spines in the front followed by a series of soft rays with orange spots in between the rays. The darter has wide paddle-shaped pectoral fins and pelvic fins positioned just behind the head, with the pelvic fins positioned just underneath the pectoral fins. The body of the darter is very colorful, with alternating orange and blue bars where the orange becomes a darker red closer to the tail.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

A #GarWeek #25DaysofFishmas #SundayFishSketch crossover with one of the coolest fish in the Great Lakes region, the longnose gar? It's a Christmas miracle!

Digital illustration of a longnose gar (Lepisosteus osseus). This is a very narrow fish with a long, cylindrical body and a very long crocodile-like snout with many small pointy teeth. The dorsal and anal fins are set far back on the body, just in front of the tail. The tail itself is asymmetrical, with a fleshy portion extending along the top, while the tail fin is fairly large and diamond shaped. The gar also has smaller pectoral fins right behind the gill cover and pelvic fins about halfway down the length of the body. The gar is a mottled grey-green in color, darker on the top and lighter on the bottom, with a few dark spots. The fins are orange with large grey spots. The whole body of the fish is covered in large, thick diamond-shaped scales.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

A bit of a peek behind the curtain (and and actual sketch) with this WIP red shiner for this week's #25DaysofFishmas #SundayFishSketch!

An unfinished digital drawing of a red shiner. This fish is a type of minnow with a deep body. It has a fairly large terminal mouth and some small tubercles on the top of the head. There is one fan-shaped dorsal fin, short fan-shape pelvic fins, longer pectoral fins and an anal fin about the same size and shape as the dorsal fin. Tail end of the body is quite wide and straight and the caudal fin has two round lobes with a fairly deep fork. The drawing has the flat colors on the body filled in. The colors are mostly blue, darker and more purple on top with very light whitish hues on the belly. There is also a bright blue stripe flanked by pink and orange stripes above the pectoral fins behind the gill cover. The fins are not colored yet, but there are roughly sketched lines where the fin rays will go.

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Reposted by Justin Waraniak

Dr. Rene P. Martin @lampichthys.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Continuing our most festive of crossovers, the #SundayFishSketch #Fishytheme clues for Sunday are below! Take (and then draw) a guess at what is #25DaysofFishmas (@drkatfish.bsky.social) Great Lakes fish is and post your drawings this Sunday! #sciart 🦑🐡

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

The #25DaysofFishmas #SundayFishSketch mystery fish for this week is the rainbow trout (AKA steelhead in their more silvery pelagic form)!

Digital illustration of a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) wrapped in a string of alternating red and green christmas lights. This fish has a torpedo-shaped body with a wide tail and short pointed snout. It has a large mouth that extends past the eye. The pectoral and pelvic fins are low on the body. The pectoral fins are found directly behind the gill cover while the pelvic fins are found halfway down the length of the body. The fish has one large trapezoidal dorsal fin on its back. There is also a small oval adipose fin on the back closer to the tail. The caudal fin is fan-shaped and very slightly forked. The fish is a light green on top, transitioning to a pale silvery blue and sandy color on the sides and belly. It also has a bright pink streak across its flank and cheek. The dorsal side of the fish is covered in small black spots.

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Dr. Rene P. Martin @lampichthys.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

WEEK 2 of the #SundayFishSketch team-up with #25DaysofFishmas (@drkatfish.bsky.social) for a difficult #Fishytheme. Sketch the #GreatLakes fish described by the clues below - if you know the answer, don't spoil it, draw and post on Sunday! #sciart 🐡🦑

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Reposted by Justin Waraniak

Jennifer Clausen @jacsciart.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

For today's #SundayFishSketch, here is a recently finished Polymixia hollisterae (an attempt, anyway). I'd taken a ~ 1 yr. hiatus from drawing and this is the first illustration I've finished since coming back, and I'm pretty proud 🐡

A recently finished illustration of Polymixia hollisterae (an attempt, anyway). The fish is facing toward the left. It has a dark turquoise color along the back/top that fades to gray the closer you get to the bottom/stomach area. The dorsal, anal, and caudal fins all have black tips, and are otherwise light/clear in color. The eye is large and silvery, and beneath the mouth are two long barbels.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Orangespotted sunfish are mostly blue, so even though orange is in the name, I can still count it towards today's #SundayFishSketch theme, right?

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Sturgeons, like this pallid sturgeon, often undertake migrations during spawning seasons from lakes or large rivers to rocky reefs or smaller streams to lay their eggs! #SundayFishSketch

Digital drawing of a pallid sturgeon. This fish has a long, teardrop-shaped body. It has a long bony snout with a mouth with big fleshy lips facing downward on the underside of its head. There are four barbels hanging from the underside of the snout in front of the mouth, two longer ones on the outside and two shorter ones in the middle. The body is mostly scaleless, but there are three rows of large armorlike bony scutes, one along the spine, one along the midline and one on the side of the belly. The body becomes very narrow and elongated close to the tail. The tail has two lobes divided by a deep fork. The top lobe is longer than the bottom lobe and there is a thin filament coming out of the top of the top lobe.

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 18/09/2024

If you're at #AFS154, I'll be manning a sticker pop-up shop this afternoon in the main lobby (right in front of registration). Stop by to pick up some cool stickers!

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Justin Waraniak @marathon-rana.bsky.social · 09/09/2024

Had to draw a flashlight fish for today’s “illuminated” theme! These fish have pouches under their eyes that house bioluminescent bacteria that they use to help hunt zooplankton on the reef at night! #SundayFishSketch #SciArtSeptember

A fish with a deep round body and a bright blue patch underneath its large eye. The fish is mostly obscured by darkness except for a blue glow emanating from the patch under the eye.

The same fish with a deep round body, two dorsal fins, the one in front short and spiny, the second one long with soft rays. The tail is deeply forked. There is a large white patch under the eye and the body is a dusky purple, lighter on the belly and darker along the back.

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