iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD

Jason GRIZZLED Bittel @bittelmethis.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Spotted Lanternflies… should you squish ‘em? 🧪

Reposted by Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD

Tylan Berry @tylanberry.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

One of the most incredible photos I have ever been sent, courtesy of Chloë James of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Seagrass Restoration Team. Yep, that's Philodromus margaritatus...under seawater using...an air bubble to breathe and move about. I am utterly speechless!! @britishspiders.bsky.social

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Mike Keesey @tmkeesey.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

PhyloPic is having an October fundraiser. The goal is to raise enough money to cover web hosting for the past six months. Please share the link, and chip in a bit if you can! www.phylopic.org

phylopic.org

PhyloPic

PhyloPic is an open database of free silhouette images of animals, plants, and other life forms, available for reuse under Creative Commons licenses. Download silhouettes for use in educational materi...

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J. Hamilton @juliahamilton.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Information you can use!

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CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 04/09/2026

An incredible image, and overall winner of this year's Australian Geographic Nature Photography award. Using a DJI Mavic 3 Pro (drone), Matt Deakin captured an extremely rare moment - seeing a critically endangered Sawfish in the wild and passing by a Turtle, off the Pilbara coast in WA.

Aerial image of a Sawfish as it swims below and past a turtle

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Armand Sarlangue @armandsarlangue.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Another very special moment from this season in Greenland… Discovering this beautiful iceberg and its amazing green underwater base in the middle of some very thick fog was surely one of the highlights of this summer for me… #photography #nature #redsails #adventure #art 🌿

A beautifully shaped iceberg with a large green underwater base, our red sails boat standing between 2 parts of the iceberg, the whole scene wrapped into thick fog with just enough light entering. Photography, no ai.

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Nicolas Mouquet @nmouquet.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

🎧 Do you want to help us understand how humans perceive forest soundscapes in Costa Rica ? Answer this quick 5-min survey: 👉 www.biodiful.org/#/soundscapes_en Take a break and listen to the voice of the forest 💚 Please like & share on 🦋 to reach more participants 🙏 🌐🌍🦤🧪🍁🪴

Flyer for the BIODIFUL Soundscapes survey. Text reads: 'Do you want to help us understand how humans perceive forest soundscapes in Costa Rica? Please answer our online questionnaire: Voices of the Tropical Forest.' Photo of a lush tropical forest interior, overlaid with a translucent ear icon surrounded by sound waves. Text continues: 'This anonymous survey will take only 10 min. https://www.biodiful.org/#/soundscapes_en.' Logos at the bottom: BIODIFUL, ETH Zürich, CNRS, and Station d'Écologie Théorique et Expérimentale

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SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

ICB blog Community building with open-source and #DIY monitoring #tools by @stephbilodeau.bsky.social Simply finding the tools that others have already built is often a real challenge... integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2026/09/14/c... #science #Scientists #technology

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John D. Parker @johndparker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Apply to be a Smithsonian post-doc! We are currently emphasizing invasive animals, including beasts like spotted lanternflies and emerald ash borers. 2year fellowships, stipend $60k/year, apps due October 15th. contact me if you'd like to work on a project idea!! serc.si.edu/fellowships/...

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Reposted by Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD

Emil @bergylta.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

For this #molluscmonday, we got the Violet sea slug (Edmundsella pedata). 🤿🦑 Taken: 2026-05-14 Camera: Olympus TG-5 #aquaticlife #edmundsellapedata #macrophotography #marinelife #nudibranch #nordicdiving #olympustg5 #scuba #swedishdiving #underwatermacrophotography

Photo of a tiny Violet seaslug (Edmundsella pedata) crawling up a piece of algae. It appears to crawl towards the viewer.

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Want to learn more? The paper is out today in @meps-ir.bsky.social and is Open Access for anyone to read: doi.org/10.3354/meps... 🪸 🪡

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

About half of our nudibranchs consistently chose the bleached coral cues, and about half consistently chose chemical cues from healthy corals. If this variation is genetic, it could provide an opportunity for natural selection, potentially allowing future generations to better avoid bleached corals!

A barplot showing percent time spent in seawater conditioned with bleached corals (the alternative option being seawater with healthy corals). Points representing a few individual nudibranchs fall along the fifty percent line. Most individuals are split between the top and bottom of the graph, representing preferences for either the bleached or healthy coral cues. There is a small inset image of an adult nudibranch in the bottom right and large text reading "bimodal response = behavioral variation".

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

And there was one more complication: When we looked closely at the data from our chemical tests with the bleached and healthy corals, we realized that rather than showing no preference, the nudibranchs were actually showing two different preferences!

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Bleached corals might smell and/or taste okay to eat but not provide enough nutrition to help a growing nudibranch survive to adulthood.

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

When corals bleach, they expel their algal symbionts, which may be an important source of nutrition for these coral-eating nudibranchs. This could create a mismatch in information if the chemical cue nudibranchs rely on comes from the coral tissue but the food value comes from the (missing) algae.

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Since these nudibranchs are specialist predators and will starve to death if they don't manage to find the right type of coral, it may also be that identifying the coral genus is simply more important than distinguishing the health of that individual coral.

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

So why don't the nudibranchs avoid the bleached corals that are obviously bad for them? We don't know for sure. Bleaching events today are growing more frequent and more severe, so it may be that avoiding bleached corals just wasn't a common issue for these nudibranchs in the past.

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

...BUT, when we actually raised juvenile nudibranchs on bleached corals, most of them died! Mortality was as bad on bleached Porites (their host coral) as on another type of coral that they can't even eat. If the coral is bleached, it might as well not even be the right type of coral!

A two-panel figure from Bilodeau and Hay 2026. In panel A on the left, mortality is low and statistically equivalent for Porites lobata and Porites rus treatments. It is high and equivalent for bleached P. rus and Acropora pulchra. There are twenty nudibranchs in each treatment, with a significant p-value of point zero zero six. In panel B on the right, box-and-whisker plots show high and equivalent change in length for nudibranchs raised on P. lobata and P. rus. Length change is significantly lower on bleached P. rus and negative and significantly different on A. pulchra. A significant p-value of less than point zero zero one is shown.

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Now this is where we get to the coral bleaching! When we offered adult and juvenile nudibranchs a physical choice between bleached and healthy corals, they picked bleached half the time. Chemical choice assays with water from corals (but no physical contact) also seemed to show no preference...

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

When we offered adult nudibranchs a simultaneous choice between water from a bucket containing Porites corals and water with no corals, they consistently chose the stream of coral-conditioned water, showing that they can chemically detect their host corals without needing to make physical contact.

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Adult marine animals often have very different behaviors and capabilities from their larvae. However, since these nudibranchs eat their host corals, we figured the adults might also need to be able to chemically detect (and move toward) the Porites corals so they could find new ones.

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

We already know a lot about how the larval (baby) nudibranchs settle on their coral hosts, dropping out of the water column when they detect a certain chemical cue ("inducer") from the coral. You can read more about that in this study from Koehl et al. (2007): doi.org/10.3354/meps... (Open Access)

Figure from Koehl et al. 2007 showing a laser-illuminated slice through a dye cloud (analogue for odor) released from corals into wave-driven water flow above a reef; inset: larva of Phestilla sibogae. Photos: Matthew Reidenbach & Jeffrey Koseff (laser image), Michael Hadfield (inset)

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This is Tenellia lugubris, a specialist nudibranch (sea slug) that lives on and eats only corals in the genus Porites. They are colored and textured to match their hosts and mostly hide under corals during the day, crawling out to feed on the corals at night.

A semi-transparent juvenile nudibranch with oversized, darkly-pigmented cerata on a pale background

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Coral bleaching is obviously bad for corals, but what about the things that eat corals? My second dissertation chapter is out now (Open Access, doi.org/10.3354/meps...) and asks how specialist coral-eating nudibranchs find the right corals, if they avoid bleached corals, and whether they should. 🧵

A fuzzy-looking adult nudibranch with a pale body and dark brown cerata crawls on a now-dead Porites rus coral fragment. The coral fragment is also occupied by several pale, rosette-shaped egg masses from the nudibranch.

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Hi! I'm Stephanie, an aquatic ecologist working on species interactions at multiple scales. I'd love to be added to the Science feed. Here's a link to my ORCID profile: orcid.org/0000-0002-88...

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

...just realized as I was about to post about some super cool science that I don't think I was ever added to the Marine Life feed, so let's rectify that! #addOcean

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Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology @sicb.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

#SICB Pittsburgh Abstract submission is open for SICB 2027! www.xcdsystem.com/sicb/abstrac... Come share your research and learn about the most exciting areas of integrative, comparative, & organismal #biology in Pittsburgh, PA on January 3-7, 2027. The deadline is August 28 at 11:59 PM HST.

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Jo Latimore @jolatimore.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I care about Chara. Do you care about Chara? 🌿😍

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Miguel Clavero @chikichanka.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I am shocked to have learnt today that green crabs, Carcinus maenas, have assymetrical claws, quite as much as the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus ((post below). While one claw seems to have canine- and cutting molars-like structures, the other looks like fit for crushing Two males in photos

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Eric R. Larson @ericrlarson.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

A half century of invasive crayfish monitoring in northern Wisconsin continued this week with Cornell's recently retired David Lodge and first year University of Illinois PhD student Kaylin Wallen

Two researchers sit in the bow of a john boat with a bucket full of crayfish and a lake in the background under overcast skies

Roughly two dozen rusty crayfish in a shallow white bucket

A flowage between two lakes in northern Wisconsin with bright green vegetation on both shores under a sunny sky with scattered clouds

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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Hey folks, this hasn’t gotten much attention, but remember those proposed OMB rule changes we all commented on recently? There’s a new attempt to sneak them just for NSF. We have three days to comment. Please don’t sleep on this!

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Attention Ecologists! We are going to need *a lot* of ecologists. The First Lego League Teams need to speak with a scientist about their projects every year. Every year it's a different type of scientist. Last year was archaeologists. This year, ecologists! Sign up: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A fish is a teacher, wearing a button-up shirt with a collar. He says "Volunteer to speak with classrooms in front of a chalkboard that says "Skype a scientist needs YOU!". A snail on his desk says Help! And a shrimp says "Lego league is coming!" and a nervous seahorse says "this year's theme is ecosystems"

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Holly Bik @hollybik.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

My lab is HIRING - we have an opening for a #postdoc focused on marine invertebrate symbioses & evolution (heavy focus on microbial -Omics and bioinformatics, but lots of fun fieldwork opportunities too!) Full position info here: www.biklab.org/join-the-lab Please help spread the word! #SymbioSky

Neon flyer advertising a postdoc job at UGA

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🍁 Alex Smith 🍁 @alexsmithants.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

🧪 Take a second 2 participate in an auditory study of biodiversity & nature perception by @biodiful.bsky.social Available in Spanish, French or English You will hear short recordings from tropical forests across Costa Rica. Choose the 1 you prefer the most. www.biodiful.org#/soundscapes...

screen grab of project website reading: Voices of the Tropical Forest
Welcome, and thank you for taking part in our survey!

This survey aims to evaluate people’s preference for tropical forests natural acoustic environments (soundscapes). We will present you with a series of short (5 seconds) recordings from forests across Costa Rica. For each pair, simply choose the one you prefer the most. The questionnaire will take about 5 minutes to complete. At the end, you will be asked to answer a few additional questions.

- The recordings were made in tropical forests in Costa Rica (hundreds of locations!). They consist of background sounds (sometimes quite loud) and foreground sounds, including birds, insects, other animals, and occasionally human activities.
- Please fill out this survey on a device with good audio quality and/or ideally wearing headphones.
- The recordings may be of variable loudness, we recommend starting on a lower volume and turning up the level as appropriate.
- Only adults can be included in this study (18+ years old)
- The survey is open till October 30, 2026 and is also available in French and Spanish.

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JBGarrity Photography @joegarrity.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Vietnamese Mossy tree frogs are both arboreal and aquatic. They wade in moss-covered puddles for camouflage and climb about the canopy in rainforests. #naturephotography #nature #wildlifephotography #wildlife #macrophotography #macro #amphibian #treefrog #frog #herps #eastcoastkin #photography

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I'm thrilled to announce (over a month late!) that after successfully defending my PhD at Georgia Tech this spring, I've started a postdoc position in the Byers lab at @ugaecology.bsky.social. I'll be looking at how life history traits affect marine species distributions!

A white woman with short hair and a blue and gold doctoral graduation robe and cap smiles and looks off camera. Tech Tower is visible through the trees.

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Miguel Clavero @chikichanka.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Natural history on canvas: Brueghel knew about bird-eating noctule bats Just published in @pnas.org, OA for all eyes Led by the one-and-only @romero-vidal.bsky.social, with the amazing @elena-tena.bsky.social and Sonia Sánchez-Navarro @ebdonana.bsky.social LINK: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Elena Litchman @elenalitchman.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Interested in doing a postdoc in plankton ecology, on topics of community assembly, trait-based ecological resilience, stressor interactions, harmful algal blooms and others? Contact me to discuss developing a proposal for MSU's EEB Presidential Postdoc Fellowship (Nov 1 application deadline).

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Mike Melton @mikemelton.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

For my #EgretsandHerons #birdoftheday, the Agami Heron at Agami Island #costarica #birds #herons #nature

An Agami Heron with deep blue and chestnut plumage perched on a branch amid lush green foliage.

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San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance @sandiegozoo.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Announcing the birth of this spike-tacular porcupette 🦔

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Aled Thompson @aledthompson.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Kākāpō in Camouflage

An angular green potato bird stood among forest foliage with feather patterns blending into the environment

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Virginia Schutte @vgwschutte.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

This was my PhD! 🦑🧪 1. Roots that grow into the Caribbean seafloor are bare, because sea stars eat the stuff that grows on them 2. Roots that dangle into the water get covered in stuff and are great habitat 3. Fertilizer -> more leaves, so we need to protect roots specifically, not just trees

A juvenile grunt hides amongst a sponge growing on an underwater red mangrove root

A stingray moseys along underneath red mangrove roots dangling into the water

A juvenile butterflyfish hides behind underwater red mangrove roots made more complex by sponges and clams growing on the roots

A juvenile snapper looks at the camera from between underwater red mangrove roots made into better hiding spots by sponges with complex structure

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でんか @k-hermit.com · 11/07/2026

「ガクモンからエンタメ」で配布する予定のフリーペーパー。今年のテーマは磯遊びの人気者、アメフラシたち🫧 ͛.* ほかに展示と動画を流そうと思ってます！ #博物ふぇす

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Keishu Asada @cephwarden.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

There were a lot of these in June. Baby octopuses drifting on rafts of sea grass, each off on some grand voyage.

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Look again! 🤨 We have wildlife photographer Andreas Kay to thank for this video of the 'feather mimic moth caterpillar' in the rainforests of Ecuador. Protective mimicry is common in this family of moths, but this is an uncommonly exceptional job. 🪶😀 (📷: Andreas Kay)

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The Crustacean Society @crustaceansociety.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

🌊 2026 NF-POGO Shipboard Training Fellowships are now open!🚢 Early-career ocean scientists from eligible countries can apply for hands-on training aboard research vessels. 👉 oceantrainingpartnership.org/training-cal... 📸 Brandon Antonio Segura Torres & Priscilla Vieto Bonilla (CC) #marinescience

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