I love this assignment because it puts information "out there" for people to see rather than having students spend time working on a research paper that only ends up being read by me. If you're interested in doing the same, reach out to @wikieducation.bsky.social who has been great to work with.

Margaret Elizabeth Brown (1918-2009) was a British ichthyologist who established ecophysiology as a scientific discipline.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margare...

Francesca LaMonte (1895-1982) spent her career at the American Museum of Natural History, helped form the International Game Fish Association, wrote the book 'North American Game Fishes,' and was lauded as a "fish expert" by Ernest Hemingway.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances...

Livingston Stone (1836-1912) established multiple fish hatcheries, and worked out ways to transport live fish by train to facilitate stocking efforts. He mostly worked with trout and salmon. He's recognized for his contributions to fish culture work.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livings...

Fahire Battalgil (1902-1948) was the first woman professor in Turkey (or at least one of the first, the historical record gets confusing, apparently). She described 30 species of endemic Turkish fishes in the early- to mid-1900s.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahire_...

Alina Szmant is a retired marine biologist whose work on reproduction and physiological ecology of corals has impacted coral reef restoration efforts. She has published >100 papers, and received several awards for her contributions to science.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alina_S...

Yseult Le Danois (1920-1985) was a French marine biologist/ichthyologist whose career focused on comparative anatomy of marine species that were important for elucidating phylogenies and taxonomy of frogfish. (She had a French Wiki Page, but now an English one too).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yseult_...

Pearl Mitsu Sonada (1918-2015) was a Japanese-American who did important curatorial work at the Field Museum, California Academy of Sciences after her time in an internment camp in AZ interrupted her education.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_M...

Borax Lake chub was removed from the Endangered Species List in 2020 after 30 years of actions to protect Borax Lake including the purchase of private land containing the lake by the Nature Conservancy + controlling off-road vehicle/livestock access to the shoreline/surrounding area #25DaysofFishmas

After more than 50 years of recovery efforts - much of which has been led by the White Mountain Apache Tribe - the Apache trout was removed from the federal endangered species list in 2024. It was the first sport fish species to be delisted + limited fishing is now permitted #25DaysofFishmas

Not exactly a looker - and I’m not just talking about their appearance. Widemouth blindcat is adapted for life in total darkness - it has a translucent body (no pigment needed to protect from UV exposure) with no eyes + no swim bladder (because of the immense pressure it lives at) #25DaysofFishmas

Some of my favorite things in this historical account of native Colorado River fishes is the guys that used to use rabbits, mice, and starlings for bait to catch Colorado pikeminnows.

coloradoriverrecovery.org/wp-content/u...

Despite lacking any teeth on their jaws, Colorado pikeminnows are the top native predators in the Colorado River basin. They do have long, curved teeth in their throat (pharyngeal teeth) that help them process prey (mostly fish, but whatever they can catch!) that they swallow whole #25DaysofFishmas

Colorado pikeminnow is one of 4 species of pikeminnows (Ptychocheilus genus), all found in western North America + all large, predatory fish in the Leuciscidae (minnow) family. Though none grow as large - or as old (50+ years!) - as the Colorado pikeminnow! #25DaysofFishmas