Participants of the Fish Satellite Meeting at EuroEvoDevo 2024.
The Sea Around Us principal investigator, Dr. Daniel Pauly, presented his Gill Oxygen Limitation Theory (GOLT) at the 9th Conference of the European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology held in Helsinki on June 24-28, 2024.
Cover of the Journal of Fish Biology. June 2024.
A recent paper authored by the Sea Around Us’ PI, Dr. Daniel Pauly, research assistant, Elaine Chu, and Dr. Johannes Müller from Leiden University, has made the cover of the June print issue of the Journal of Fish Biology, where it was introduced by a brief essay in the ‘Between the Covers’ section. The image that illustrates it is that of a large mythical sea creature known as an Aspidochelone, which appeared in a French bestiary around 1270 A.D.
Blacktip reef shark. Photo by Ray in Manila, Flickr.
Urea – the main component of human urine – plays an important role in the timing of maturation of sharks, rays and other cartilaginous fish.
A new study by researchers with the Sea Around Us initiative at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries found that high urea concentrations common in cartilaginous fish, particularly oviparous marine species, allow them to mature and begin to reproduce at a larger fraction of their maximal size.
Gray snappers in Santa Cruz Beach. Photo by Laszlo Ilyes, Wikimedia Commons.
Coral reef fish –like the fish in other marine and freshwater ecosystems – are likely to reach smaller maximum sizes and start reproducing earlier with smaller and fewer eggs as climate change continues to warm up the ocean.
Herring spawn. Photo by Moosealope, Flickr.
The physical relief that temperate fish like cod and Atlantic herring experience after they spawn for the first time allows them to breathe in more oxygen and develop a voracious appetite, all of which leads to a rapid increase in body weight.