Alex Maile

Our anglerfish research made it into the New York Times!!! Beyond excited to see the love for these weirdos and their infamous lures! 🧪🐟🌊🦇 “How Female Anglerfish Evolved to Have It All” by Kate Golembiewski @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/s...

Porichthys plectrodon - the Atlantic midshipman. These unusual fishes possess rows of bioluminescent organs called photophores and can produce sounds using specialized muscles attached to their swim bladder.

I’ve been looking at this weirdo quite a bit lately. Monocentris japonica, AKA the pineapplefish, pineconefish, or the knightfish. They possesses amazing armor that allows these fishes to swim around like little tanks. Scan is from Morphosource: UF 159787 🐟🧪🌊🦇

Behold! Two extinct birds: the Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) and the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis). Both were wiped out by humans not long after we encountered them. These specimens are housed at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, where they’re used for research. 🌊🧪🦆🦇

Time in Copenhagen is never lonely when working with #anglerfishes 🧪🐟🌊🦑🦇

Fishy frenzy 🐟🦑🌊🦇

Lil’ photogenic dude 🐠🦑🌊🦇

I cannot believe our research on anglerfishes and their infamous lures is featured in National Geographic! I get so excited when I see these weirdos, and I light up when I can share their weirdness with anyone. 🌊🦑🧪🦇 Check it out here: www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

And the original article in Ichthyology & Herpetology. Really nice work by @anoplogaster.bsky.social and Matt Davis The Evolution of Lures in Anglerfishes (Acanthuriformes: Lophioidei): Investigating Nature's Tackle Box bioone.org/journals/ich...

The bees are a buzz’n

More exciting press for @scsualumni.bsky.social Alex Maile @anoplogaster.bsky.social and @stcloudstate.bsky.social professor Matt Davis’ work on deep-sea fishes! #teamfish

‼️ Our anglerfish research is now featured in @ScienceMagazine! 🐟🎣 "Why do anglerfish have glowing lures? It might be sex" Check it out here! 🧪🌊🐟🦇 www.science.org/content/arti...

Got sent a press release for this awesome paper doi.org/10.1643/i202... by @anoplogaster.bsky.social and became instantly obsessed with the much-too-human face of the attached anglerfish photo (credit: Matthew Davis), so I had to give it a body

This is fantastic.

Student Spotlight! 🌟 Check out the latest article featuing KU Ichthyology graduate student @anoplogaster.bsky.social's research on the evolution of anglerfishes' lures. His study, in collaboration with Matthew Davis revealed that these lures serve a dual purpose: attracting both food and mates.

‼️NEW ANGLERFISH PAPER! 🐟🎣 So excited to share the final part of my Master’s research! We explore the bizarre tacklebox of anglerfish lures and show how these fishes evolved different ways to attract prey and maybe even mates in the deep sea. 🧪🦑🌊🦇🦀 Open access paper link: doi.org/10.1643/i202...

Finally got around to framing these postcards from a Nagasaki University calendar I was gifted a few years ago. 🌊🐟🦑🦀

Talk about a headache! (especially from your partner fusing to you!) This is a Ghostly Seadevil (Haplophryne mollis) from the University of Washington Burke Museum!

Morning from a Kansas reef 🐟🦀🦑🌊🦇

Kansas snow day with the reef

These MN blizzard conditions make me long for Cretaceous weather.

When your R code runs perfectly on the first try 🧪

Lil puppies with fins

The swimming candy cane 🌊🐟🦑🦇

An urchin a day keeps the bad vibes away

Snack time 🌊🦑🦇

If you hold it like this, it’s a hat! 🦑🌊🦇🧪

When life puts a rock in the way, carry it around like an urchin 🦑🌊🦇🧪

Watching the world go by 🦑🌊🦇🧪

Snack time on the reef 🦑🌊🦇🧪

POV you’re in a crabby mood 🦑 🌊 🧪 🦇

Our mini snail aquarium for this week’s lab on gastropods!

Snail radula in action

We didn't carve pumpkins this year, but here are some deep-sea fish jack-o'-lanterns l've made in prior years!

Happy Halloween! 🎃 🦇 🧪

Ever seen a clear and stained little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus)? 🦇 I love how their modified forelimbs, with elongated phalanges that support the wing membrane used for flight. Look how big those fangs are! 🧪🎃

A 3D printer is glamorous until you have to fix a wiring issue…

Bellator militaris — the horned searobin. Just like other armored searobins, they possess modified pectoral fin rays used to walk and detect food on the seafloor. This specimen is TCWC 6818.17 available on MorphoSource. www.morphosource.org/concern/biol... 🦑 🌊 🧪

Bellator militaris — the horned searobin. Just like other armored searobins, they possess modified pectoral fin rays used to walk and detect food on the seafloor. This specimen is TCWC 6818.17 available on MorphoSource. www.morphosource.org/concern/biol... 🦑 🌊 🧪

Just a few more pieces left to glue — the monkfish is nearly complete! 🦑 🌊 🧪

Happy Monday from these three amigos 🦑 🌊

Just clown’in around 🦑 🌊 🧪

New addition to the aquarium! A Longnose Hawkfish (Oxycirrhites typus). Loves the camera more than any other fish I’ve had.

New urchin, who dis? 🦑 🌊

Hoplostethus mediterraneus – the Mediterranean slimehead (Trachichthyidae). Remarkably, slimeheads have been documented to live for over 230 years. This specimen is KU 42748 from the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum. 🦑🌊

Monocentris japonica — the Japanese pineapplefish (or pinecone fish)

Anyone else walk into the fish store and suddenly feel like handing over their wallet for a new tank?

Went to Duluth to celebrate wedding anniversary prior to #JMIH. Pretty cool aquarium and sturgeon touch tank!