Simon J. Brandl
@gobyone.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at UT Austin's Marine Science Institute | Fishes, functions, and marine ecosystems | he/his | Views are my own
www.fishandfunctions.com 🐡📉
www.fishandfunctions.com 🐡📉
Community structure and microhabitat associations of cryptobenthic fishes in Veracruz, Mexico
First PhD-paper by @r-higueras.bsky.social, exploring the tiny fish communities on reefs off the coast of her hometown 🥹
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
First PhD-paper by @r-higueras.bsky.social, exploring the tiny fish communities on reefs off the coast of her hometown 🥹
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
October 20, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Community structure and microhabitat associations of cryptobenthic fishes in Veracruz, Mexico
First PhD-paper by @r-higueras.bsky.social, exploring the tiny fish communities on reefs off the coast of her hometown 🥹
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
First PhD-paper by @r-higueras.bsky.social, exploring the tiny fish communities on reefs off the coast of her hometown 🥹
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Cool description of seven miniature fish species from the Triassic that may be similar to modern day cryptobenthics. Apparently they were all over the Tethys Sea 240 million years ago, measuring in at a whopping 4cm adult body size 🥹 Scale bar in 📷 is 5mm!
linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii...
linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii...
June 10, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Cool description of seven miniature fish species from the Triassic that may be similar to modern day cryptobenthics. Apparently they were all over the Tethys Sea 240 million years ago, measuring in at a whopping 4cm adult body size 🥹 Scale bar in 📷 is 5mm!
linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii...
linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii...
Scientific semantics aside, why does this matter? It matters because reefs clearly depend much more on their surrounding oceans than commonly assumed. As we alter not just reefs themselves, but also broader dynamics like nutrients, currents, and plankton blooms, reefs will have to cope with both.
June 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Scientific semantics aside, why does this matter? It matters because reefs clearly depend much more on their surrounding oceans than commonly assumed. As we alter not just reefs themselves, but also broader dynamics like nutrients, currents, and plankton blooms, reefs will have to cope with both.
Not really, because the oceans around reefs aren't deserts. Most reefs do not occur in conditions we would define as nutrient-poor. They thrive instead across a vast spectrum of oceanographic regimes, and 80% of reefs are surrounded by waters we would generally classify as meso- or eutrophic.
June 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Not really, because the oceans around reefs aren't deserts. Most reefs do not occur in conditions we would define as nutrient-poor. They thrive instead across a vast spectrum of oceanographic regimes, and 80% of reefs are surrounded by waters we would generally classify as meso- or eutrophic.
Does that mean it's all wrong? Not quite, because coral reefs are indeed ridiculously productive. We compared net primary production across Earth's ecosystems and found that reefs outpace almost all other systems in their ability to produce biomass. They're absolute powerhouses. Dare I say, oases?
June 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Does that mean it's all wrong? Not quite, because coral reefs are indeed ridiculously productive. We compared net primary production across Earth's ecosystems and found that reefs outpace almost all other systems in their ability to produce biomass. They're absolute powerhouses. Dare I say, oases?
First, Darwin never said nothing about reef productivity & nutrients. In fact, old Chucky D didn't have the basic oceanographic knowledge to arrive at the paradox conclusion. Instead, it arose after the first coral reef ecosystem metabolism studies in the 1950s and was misattributed in the 80s/90s
June 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM
First, Darwin never said nothing about reef productivity & nutrients. In fact, old Chucky D didn't have the basic oceanographic knowledge to arrive at the paradox conclusion. Instead, it arose after the first coral reef ecosystem metabolism studies in the 1950s and was misattributed in the 80s/90s
Heard of "Darwin's paradox"? It refers to Charles Darwin's observation that coral reefs are wildly productive despite occurring in nutrient-poor tropical oceans. Reefs are, so the story goes, oases in marine deserts 🏝️...
Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong...
🌐
🦑🧪
🧵⬇️
Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong...
🌐
🦑🧪
🧵⬇️
June 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Heard of "Darwin's paradox"? It refers to Charles Darwin's observation that coral reefs are wildly productive despite occurring in nutrient-poor tropical oceans. Reefs are, so the story goes, oases in marine deserts 🏝️...
Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong...
🌐
🦑🧪
🧵⬇️
Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong...
🌐
🦑🧪
🧵⬇️
In good tradition, here are a few tiny fishes with bunny ears 🐰
April 18, 2025 at 5:07 PM
In good tradition, here are a few tiny fishes with bunny ears 🐰
What do dolphins, toadfishes, and snapping shrimp have in common? They all go quiet when disaster strikes. We show that historic rainfalls in South Texas silenced an otherwise noisy estuary for several months, suggesting a sustained loss of ecosystem functioning.
👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
April 11, 2025 at 4:05 PM
What do dolphins, toadfishes, and snapping shrimp have in common? They all go quiet when disaster strikes. We show that historic rainfalls in South Texas silenced an otherwise noisy estuary for several months, suggesting a sustained loss of ecosystem functioning.
👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
My second favorite part about this paper is the integration of stable isotopes and demographic models, which really highlight the aforementioned dynamic. By itself, neither method would provide the full picture.
March 24, 2025 at 6:34 PM
My second favorite part about this paper is the integration of stable isotopes and demographic models, which really highlight the aforementioned dynamic. By itself, neither method would provide the full picture.
In short, on the backreef, armies of tiny, highly perishable little fish cycle a lot of energy produced by benthic algae to larger consumers. In contrast, on the forereef, much less energy is cycled by these fishes and most of it comes from pelagic phytoplankton.
March 24, 2025 at 6:34 PM
In short, on the backreef, armies of tiny, highly perishable little fish cycle a lot of energy produced by benthic algae to larger consumers. In contrast, on the forereef, much less energy is cycled by these fishes and most of it comes from pelagic phytoplankton.
We collected tiny fishes from backreef and forereef habitats around the island of Mo'orea, and then used size spectrum analyses, stable isotopes, and demographic models to quantify how energy is cycled through these communities.
March 24, 2025 at 6:34 PM
We collected tiny fishes from backreef and forereef habitats around the island of Mo'orea, and then used size spectrum analyses, stable isotopes, and demographic models to quantify how energy is cycled through these communities.
In 2019, we showed that tiny, bottom-dwelling fish can fuel coral reef energy fluxes. In our new paper, we reveal a dramatic dichotomy in their functional role across coral reef habitats separated by a few 100 meters.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
@esajournals.bsky.social
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
@esajournals.bsky.social
March 24, 2025 at 6:34 PM
In 2019, we showed that tiny, bottom-dwelling fish can fuel coral reef energy fluxes. In our new paper, we reveal a dramatic dichotomy in their functional role across coral reef habitats separated by a few 100 meters.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
@esajournals.bsky.social
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
@esajournals.bsky.social
Incredibly informative & accessible review by @tjnear.bsky.social and Chris Thacker on the systematics and biology of acanthopterygian fish clades. Treated myself to a quick read this morning and amazed that Blenniiformes and Atheriniformes are sister lineages! 🤯
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
March 14, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Incredibly informative & accessible review by @tjnear.bsky.social and Chris Thacker on the systematics and biology of acanthopterygian fish clades. Treated myself to a quick read this morning and amazed that Blenniiformes and Atheriniformes are sister lineages! 🤯
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Want to know more about Elacatinus colini? Like when he initiates the hatching of his offspring by picking them up with his mouth and spitting them out to conquer the world? Check out this paper by @gobywan.bsky.social in @royalsocietypublishing.org: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
March 7, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Want to know more about Elacatinus colini? Like when he initiates the hatching of his offspring by picking them up with his mouth and spitting them out to conquer the world? Check out this paper by @gobywan.bsky.social in @royalsocietypublishing.org: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
Fri-yay goby appreciation post: this is the Mesoamerican Sponge Goby Elacatinus colini, which spends its entire adult life inside some random sponge in a warm, cozy coral reef lagoon. Sponges have notoriously poor WiFi, so he persists in blissful ignorance... 🥹
March 7, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Fri-yay goby appreciation post: this is the Mesoamerican Sponge Goby Elacatinus colini, which spends its entire adult life inside some random sponge in a warm, cozy coral reef lagoon. Sponges have notoriously poor WiFi, so he persists in blissful ignorance... 🥹
Oh hey. Hey you. Keep swimming. You're doing great.
Bluestripe Snapper (Lutjanus kasmira), South Ari Atoll, Maldives
Bluestripe Snapper (Lutjanus kasmira), South Ari Atoll, Maldives
February 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Oh hey. Hey you. Keep swimming. You're doing great.
Bluestripe Snapper (Lutjanus kasmira), South Ari Atoll, Maldives
Bluestripe Snapper (Lutjanus kasmira), South Ari Atoll, Maldives
Functionization ongoing... meanwhile, just classifying him as grumpy boi. Not to be mistaken with grinchy boi below.
February 17, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Functionization ongoing... meanwhile, just classifying him as grumpy boi. Not to be mistaken with grinchy boi below.
Why he gotta be so grumpy, you may ask? This species has a modified lower jaw with fleshy appendages that bear vicious curved teeth (see ⬇️), giving it its distinct crotchety look. Be like G. brochus: tiny & grumpy, with ferocious fangs on your fleshy appendages.
SEM 📸: Harold & Winterbottom 1999
SEM 📸: Harold & Winterbottom 1999
February 17, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Why he gotta be so grumpy, you may ask? This species has a modified lower jaw with fleshy appendages that bear vicious curved teeth (see ⬇️), giving it its distinct crotchety look. Be like G. brochus: tiny & grumpy, with ferocious fangs on your fleshy appendages.
SEM 📸: Harold & Winterbottom 1999
SEM 📸: Harold & Winterbottom 1999
If you woke up grumpy this Monday morning because of... uh, everything... remember that somewhere in the Pacific, among the branches of a dying coral, there lives a goby who is grumpier than you. Yet, he does not falter. He sits, stoically. Resisting. Scheming.
The Rasp Coralgoby (Gobiodon brochus)
The Rasp Coralgoby (Gobiodon brochus)
February 17, 2025 at 1:36 PM
If you woke up grumpy this Monday morning because of... uh, everything... remember that somewhere in the Pacific, among the branches of a dying coral, there lives a goby who is grumpier than you. Yet, he does not falter. He sits, stoically. Resisting. Scheming.
The Rasp Coralgoby (Gobiodon brochus)
The Rasp Coralgoby (Gobiodon brochus)
🦑🧪 Three days left to apply for the postdoctoral position in my lab. We're looking for a population geneticist/ecologist/evolutionary biologist who is interested in studying tiny fishes in the Indo-Pacific! Come join us! 🤗
fishandfunctions.com/s/Postdoc_Ad...
fishandfunctions.com/s/Postdoc_Ad...
February 11, 2025 at 1:56 PM
🦑🧪 Three days left to apply for the postdoctoral position in my lab. We're looking for a population geneticist/ecologist/evolutionary biologist who is interested in studying tiny fishes in the Indo-Pacific! Come join us! 🤗
fishandfunctions.com/s/Postdoc_Ad...
fishandfunctions.com/s/Postdoc_Ad...
🐠🧪🎓 New position alert: I am looking for a full-time research technician to work on my NSF CAREER project. Perks:
✅ SCUBA-based fieldwork in Belize 🤿
✅ Chemistry labwork 🧪
✅ Lots of fish and fun(ctions) 🐠📈😀
Deadline: Feb 21st
utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UTstaff/job/...
Please share widely.
✅ SCUBA-based fieldwork in Belize 🤿
✅ Chemistry labwork 🧪
✅ Lots of fish and fun(ctions) 🐠📈😀
Deadline: Feb 21st
utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UTstaff/job/...
Please share widely.
January 31, 2025 at 7:11 PM
🐠🧪🎓 New position alert: I am looking for a full-time research technician to work on my NSF CAREER project. Perks:
✅ SCUBA-based fieldwork in Belize 🤿
✅ Chemistry labwork 🧪
✅ Lots of fish and fun(ctions) 🐠📈😀
Deadline: Feb 21st
utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UTstaff/job/...
Please share widely.
✅ SCUBA-based fieldwork in Belize 🤿
✅ Chemistry labwork 🧪
✅ Lots of fish and fun(ctions) 🐠📈😀
Deadline: Feb 21st
utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UTstaff/job/...
Please share widely.
Two weeks left to apply for a postdoctoral researcher position in my lab, working on cuties like this Trimma capostriatum. If you're into pop gen, fish, and fieldwork, please consider applying. We're a fun group to science with! 🥹👉👈
fishandfunctions.com/join
fishandfunctions.com/s/Postdoc_Ad...
fishandfunctions.com/join
fishandfunctions.com/s/Postdoc_Ad...
January 31, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Two weeks left to apply for a postdoctoral researcher position in my lab, working on cuties like this Trimma capostriatum. If you're into pop gen, fish, and fieldwork, please consider applying. We're a fun group to science with! 🥹👉👈
fishandfunctions.com/join
fishandfunctions.com/s/Postdoc_Ad...
fishandfunctions.com/join
fishandfunctions.com/s/Postdoc_Ad...