Catch O' the Day

For those of you with piscine predilections like me, this photo-blog pays homage to the awesome diversity of our uber successful aquatic relatives. Each week, a new fish will be highlighted from the museum's collection of over 1.7 million specimens. You'll get to see and read snippets about the exciting research being done here in the Collections Research Center (CRC) by our own fishy scientists. You can also click the links below to our Fish Collection database with online image resources and my Youtube channel, "Fishy Business", which has lots of nature and research videos. -Dr. Justin Grubich, Division of Fishes at the Field Museum of Natural History.

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As my time at the Field Museum comes to a close, and I'm about to begin a new chapter, I find myself nostalgic. The awe inspiring collections nestled away in its vaults have been a second home to me over the years. A place that has always stirred the imagination with the promise of discovery. I feel comforted that man's fascination with natural history has traversed the centuries in all its disciplines from zoology to botany and especially my passion, ichthyology. Over 230 years ago, there was another intrepid naturalist, Sydney Parkinson, who set sail on Captain Cook's tall ship, the H.M.S. Endeavour, to explore the Pacific. His days were spent feverishly collecting and describing the very same species that enthrall me today. I only hope the small collection and fishy insights I leave behind at the museum stand the test of time as his have. Now on to the next adventure...

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Fish,” he said softly, aloud, “I’ll stay with you until I am dead.”

- Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea (via fishdayfield)

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On a recent trip to the Dominican Republic to celebrate my sister's birthday in grand style, I brought along my trusty 8wt (that's a fly rod for the uninitiated), just in case I had some time away from the imbibing and beach festivities.

And indeed, I had some luck with these little guys wanting to chew on my fly (that's a lure - again for the uninitiated). Nothing to brag about for sure, but they are pretty little fish and nearly all juveniles (exception: the beefy tubesnout mojarra, upper left). It got me to thinking. Yes, I'm well aware of the creaking noise. Moving on...

In this day and age of FB and its derivation of the 'Selfie' generation, I decided to help out my new aquatic acquaintances to join the social networking 'pool'. 

They were for the most part none too happy having to pose with my half-moon hitchhikers thumb, but since they have fins instead of limbs - toughtiddies.

Ofcourse, there'll always be those ones that are to school for cool. Like the permit punks (lower left) who decided to show up and tease me on the one day I left the rod at the bungalo. Damn kids! Get off my lawn!

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NO SOUP FOR YOU!

Well, #SharkWeek has faded away for another year. None too soon I might add, since Discovery Channel has sold out on real science and education and turned the elasmo-franchise into a bunch of pathetic faux-mentaries  (e.g. Megalodon lives!) and sensationalistic survivor attack dramatizations. 

But, never fear, you're still more likely to be struck by lightning (1:3000 in your lifetime), killed in a car crash (1:5000), or mauled by a dog (1:700,000) than attacked by a shark (1:11,500,000 for the average joe). On the other hand, we kill ~ 100 million sharks/year, so really, they should be a lot more afraid of us.

Why do we kill so many? The photo above tells the story. Their fins are cut off and used to make shark fin soup. It generally takes about 40 fins (that means 10 sharks) to make a single pot of soup. After the fins are removed, the body is often discarded (sometimes even while the shark is still alive) and dumped overboard to sink to the bottom and die.  A tragic waste. Shark fin soup is considered a delicacy in many Asian cultures, particularly China. It is served during banquets, celebrations, weddings, and graduations as a status symbol of success for the host family. For a long time, it was too expensive for many Chinese, but now with the rise of the Chinese middle class, the demand for shark fin soup has been steadily increasing to unsustainable levels.

Until recently, it was legal to sell shark fin soup in Illinois, but as of Jan 2013, Illinois has become the first non-coastal state to ban the sale, trade, or distribution of shark fins. The photo above is the first case of a shark fin being seized by Illinois wildlife officials in accordance with the new statute. An Illinois DNR officer confiscated the fin in Chicago's Chinatown and brought it to the Field Museum to have us verify the evidence. This is a pectoral fin from a huge 4+ meter shark. Because of it large size (~3 feet long), likely species candidates include whale shark (Rhincodon typus), basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus), Great White (Carcharodon carcharias), and my personal best guess Bigeye Thresher (Alopias superciliosus). Until we can get a DNA sample from it, there's no way to know for sure.  Hopefully, after the case is resolved, the fin will be donated to the museum so that we can positively ID the species, and use it to educate the public on the need for worldwide shark conservation. You can read more about the case from the Chicago Tribune here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-south-side-eatery-fined-for-violating-shark-fin-law-20130809,0,3365463.story

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@FieldMuseum @AUC #RedSea Expedition pt 2:

Yeah, I know, not the loveliest of fish photos, but coming across this species in a fish market in dusty Cairo is kinda like Indy going and looking for the Ark in the Everglades - It just didn't compute for this Florida Keys boy. In this box of seemingly mummifying unwanted fish, we have five purportedly roundjaw bonefish, Albula glossodonta. Bonefishes are pursued all over the globe by fly fishermen for the thrill of sight casting to these wary flats ghosts and witnessing their blistering mind blowing speeds. Trust me, I've had my own tussle with this particular species (in Hawaii) and they are impressive (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbgKaeyZ43g).  That's right this species is also found in Hawaii which is a long way from Egypt. Bonefishes are distributed worldwide in tropical coastal habitats like back reef lagoons, sand flats, mangrove islands, and sea grass beds. Their presence in fish communities among these shallow water habitats is often indicative of a healthy ecosystem.

But how did this spectacular game fish end up in the middle of the Egyptian desert? Well, after doing my own version of ichthyological CSI here at the museum, it turns out the original type specimen for this species was described by swedish naturalist Peter Forsskal (who incidently was a student of Carl Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy) from a fish collected in the Red Sea in 1775! Only one other record of this species has ever been recorded from Egypt in 1928, and only two other fish have ever been collected from the Red Sea in 1975 & 1982 (J.E. Randall).

What's really cool about our discovery is that this specimen provides a final missing piece to the enigmatic bonefish evolution puzzle (Colborn et al. 2001). These fish were collected by gill net in the Gulf of Suez and eventually made their way to the Obour Fish Market in the desert ouskirts of Cairo. Apparently, as their name and condition indicate, they are not popular table fare in Egypt, eventhough the fishermen selling it was adamant with his arabicized english that they were, 'flrresh! flrresh!'. Fortunately, being used to rotting fish, we were undeterred (much to the skepticism of the other Cairene fishmongers) and collected the 'flrreshest' of these specimens to take tissue samples. We're now in the process of sequencing mitochondrial and nuclear genes from this bonefish to examine for the first time how genetically distinct this rare isolated Red Sea specimen is compared to its brethren populations from the larger marine basins of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

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Happy #WorldsOceanDay everyone! Here are three beautiful coral reef fishes that are endemic to the Red Sea (i.e. found no where else in the world). Top to bottom: the broomtail wrasse, the masked butterflyfish and the sohal surgeonfish. My colleagues, Mark Westneat (Curator of Fishes),  Arthur Bos (Associate Professor, AUC), and I have just conducted the first joint rapid assessment expedition between the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and American University in Cairo to document Red Sea fish biodiversity. Small focused collections based expeditions like this are vital tools to help monitor the health of our ocean ecosystems by tracking changes in reef fish communities over time. These unique Red Sea specimens will be catalogued, georefenced on FishNet2, and stored at the Collection Resource Center at the Field Museum. There, they will become part of the Division of Fishes world renowned coral reef fish collection providing rich anatomical and genetic resources for marine scientists from all over the world to access and study.

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It’s not often (actually hardly ever) that my particular brand of science (fish functional morphology, in case you were wondering…or not) has practical applications to fisheries management, or that my research is highlighted in a local Florida paper, or that the FFWC requests a conference call with me, but (contrary to my buddy Joe’s statistical mantra) rare events do happen and apparently more than once. Such has been the case this past month over some research I did on tarpon feeding behavior that has been causing quite a kerfuffle in south Florida angling circles for nearly a decade now. Well, I’ve finally set the record straight - at least for my brand of science.

So, I thought I’d share this image of a cleared and stained juvenile tarpon, Megalops atlanticus, embedded with the front page of the Boca Beacon. This specimen is actually one of the individuals from my research (Grubich, 2001) that ‘snagged’ me into this controversy. Now it seems, depending on the fishing method one chooses to pursue silver kings with in Boca Grande Pass, I may become either a hero or villain in due time. The jury is still out.

Regardless, one thing is for sure, tarpon are one of the most spectacular acrobatic game fish an angler can pursue. Look at the beautiful skeletal complexity of the underlying machine. It’s no wonder their feats in the arena of ‘fight or flight’ are legendary throughout angling lore. If you’re ever lucky or skilled enough to ‘connect’ with one, you’ll be awestruck by their power, and more likely than not, humbled with a “one that got away” story for your troubles.

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Here’s a fascinating denizen of the deep, the sharptail mola (Masturus lanceolatus), that I snagged on Lower Matecumbe Key flat more than a few years back while flyfishing for bonefish. The weird thing about these fish is they don’t really have a tail like normal fish. All you see is that little nub of a rudder (aka clavus) on the left. So how do they swim? Well, they have these huge dorsal and anal fins (you can see me propping up the dorsal). From tip to tip, they spanned the entire length of my 9’ flyrod and then some. They synchronously oscillate these huge oar-like fins from side to side to slowly propel their giant disc-shaped bodies through the water.  As they saunter along, mola feed on jellyfish, salps, and other invertebrates like squid and crustaceans by sucking them up with their tubular mouths. They live primarily in the epipelagic zone (upper 200m) and are a truly mysterious and bizarre bony fish. They belong to the Order Tetraodontiformes (meaning four-toothed) making them close relatives to pufferfishes, porcupinefishes, boxfishes, and triggerfishes. Most of the time, they’re found just lollygagging near the surface as they make their way across the world’s oceans. This one, however, just couldn’t resist sliding up to my crazy charlie in 8 inches of water ;)

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Swoosh#$!...Flap!*%...Splash@^#! The Dark Knight Fish haunts Chicago's skyline! Beware bait chuckers!

Actually this crazy looking fish is really known as a flying gurnard (Dactyloptera orientalis). I collected it in Egypt's Red Sea near the Gulf of Suez. It's really a bizarrely shaped fish with a small tubular mouth, big eyes, a spiny head-shield and gill plates, scales with pointy denticles that armor its body, and as you can see here HUGE pectoral fins that it spreads out to glide over the sea floor. It also has several fin rays at the front of the pecfins that are modified into finger-like projections to sift through the sand seeking out tasty prey.  Wicked cool mysterious fish with all sorts of fascinating morphological gizmos...just like the caped crusader!

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Spring is in the air, folks! We've finally broke 50 degrees here in the Windy City. I can tell too because my casting finger is starting to get itchy. The beautiful view of Lake Michigan also reminds me that the smallie bite will be coming soon. 'Smallie' you ask? Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), my favorite sunfish. They are pound for pound the scrappiest fighter of that group (Family Centrarchidae). So in homage to them and the final arrival of spring, I thought I'd share some high speed video footage of their suction strike that I filmed here at the Field a few years back to investigate their jaw mechanics. There's more about that at my youtube channel if you're interested (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46l7S3NCLEA). And, as a an added bonus, I've also posted a short video below of my buddy Steve and I fishing for them last spring in Kentucky to show you just how much fun they are. Have a great Easter!

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Kentucky skinny creek smallies (by Justin Grubich)

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Being lazy today for the Catch O' the Day. Well, not really. This is the view I've been staring at for the last couple weeks. You see, I'm on the home stretch of submitting the above manuscript on Nile Perch (Lates niloticus), and you can't tear yourself away for too long when you're on a writing 'heater'- to borrow from gambling parlance. It's a small and I mean 'very' small pilot study on their (rather its) movement patterns and habitat preferences that I conducted with some colleagues while in Egypt. The first part ended up in a Nat Geo documentary - Lake Monsters. Yeah, I know I had nothing to do with the title. The research isn't really all that groundbreaking, but it has some potentially useful life history information that's never been documented. Unfortunately, funding issues, and oh yeah, a revolution kinda put a kybosh on the research. Fingers crossed I can get it out before April Fool's ;)

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No no no! This is not a drawing of Mothra's aquatic twin bent on enslaving far eastern sea shores. But, it is a beautiful scientific illustration of the oyster blenny (Hypleurochilus aeguipinnis) that hangs in the halls of the Field Museum. I love scientific illustrations. In this age of digital media, this undervalued and disappearing art form, to me, is still the best way to capture with detail and accuracy a fish's true nature (blogger notes the irony in presenting it to you in digital format). The masters of this stippling and line technique have a way of removing the noise of a padrillion megapixels that so often overwhelms or underwhelms our visual acuity. Just to bring my point home, I've posted the Fishbase photoID for this species. Yup, case closed. Support your local scientific illustrators!

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How about a little trip down memory lane? The setting: last weekend I went to DC and loaded my 4yo Pentagon storage unit into a U-haul and hauled it back to Chicago just in time to meet the season's hopefully last blizzard - awesome timing! Well, while unpacking the snow soaked dusty ole boxes of randomness, I came across this...the key to my fishy success (as it were). This is the pharyngeal jaw bone of the Black Drum (Pogonias cromis) that it uses to make cement mix out of oysters and clams - it's favorite meal (must be quite a randy fish). This bizarre bone, found in the gill region, was the entire focus of my dissertation. Yes, I know...hindsight is always 20/20.

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"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever" - Jacques Cousteau

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Well, today was a day of looking back and peering forward. As I meandered around the museum today contemplating longevity, I found myself in an area I rarely visit, the Hall of Jade. In this treasure room, I found these two beauties - japanese carp (a.k.a koi) carved from ancient jade. They are both several centuries old, but aren't even close to the oldest. There were other jade-fish carvings that date back to over 1600 B.C. Now that's a long time ago! Koi are ornamental variants of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio carpio) that have been bred by japanese culture for thousand's of years. These fish are rumored to be incredibly long-lived. The story of the oldest and most famous Koi is Hanako (scarlet), a japanese koi that lived under Mt. Ontake, which reportedly lived to the ripe old age of 226 and was born twenty-five years before the U.S. Declaration of Independence. It's not likely true, but a good story anyway. The average life-span of a koi is a more meager 35-40 years.  But regardless, it still makes me ponder: if fish that have swum our ponds, lakes, oceans and even aquaria for thousands of years could speak...oh what things they've seen...and then ofcourse, promptly forgotten ;) Sounds familiar to me today.

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Fish,” he said softly, aloud, “I’ll stay with you until I am dead.”

- Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea (via fishdayfield)