Fish, as a topic, encompasses the study of aquatic, primarily gill-breathing vertebrates within ichthyology, integrating anatomy, physiology, ecology, evolution, and systematics across jawless (Agnatha), cartilaginous (Chondrichthyes), and bony (Osteichthyes) lineages. Research topics include osmoregulatory strategies in freshwater and marine environments, hydrodynamics of locomotion, sensory biology (e.g., lateral line and electroreception), reproductive modes, life-history strategies, and trophic interactions within aquatic food webs. Fish also serve as model systems in developmental biology, genomics, ecotoxicology, and conservation biology, with topics addressing population dynamics, stock assessment, habitat degradation, climate-driven distribution shifts, and biodiversity patterns in marine and inland waters.
Filmmaker and outdoorsperson Quinn Barabash recently made headlines when he found a swordfish carcass nearly two meters (6.6 feet) long on the remote shores of Haida Gwaii in northern British Columbia.
Environment
Oct 9, 2026
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78
Blue damselfish, with their striking blue hue, are easy to spot, even along Okinawa's heavily urbanized coastlines. But while abundant, their gene activity reveals a hidden cost to living in human-impacted environments.
Plants & Animals
Oct 9, 2026
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55
A new study of shark anatomy suggests the shape of their inner ears is far more variable than expected, and this variation could have more to do with their evolutionary history than where they live or what they eat.
Evolution
Oct 5, 2026
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19
In the first year of her doctoral research, Abigail Grassick collected hours of underwater video as she studied fish communities living on bommies—individual clumps of coral—on the seafloor off the coast of Curaçao.
Plants & Animals
Oct 1, 2026
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7
Schooling fish have long fascinated us with their mesmerizing collective movements and seemingly perfect coordination. But a new study on clonal mollies suggests that this behavior is not innate. During their first days of ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 30, 2026
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13
When designing a large underwater robot that could swim silently to avoid startling sea creatures, roboticist Rob Shepherd considered the unusual swimming system of oarfish, the meters-long fish whose ribbon-like dorsal fin ...
Biotechnology
Sep 30, 2026
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27
A wayward shark has become an unlikely celebrity in South Korea, drawing massive crowds, earning plaudits from the local mayor and even moving the stock market.
Ecology
Sep 30, 2026
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14
Fish have "designed" their perfect partners in a new experiment—revealing simple male preferences and more complex female tastes.
Plants & Animals
Sep 29, 2026
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14
Evolution is driven by changes in DNA that sometimes promote adaptation, altering traits like disease resistance or reproduction. Often, these changes are minuscule, modifying a single letter in the DNA code—somewhat like ...
Evolution
Sep 29, 2026
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68
How are species boundaries maintained in the face of environmental disturbance? This is not only a fundamental question in evolutionary biology but also an increasingly important one as human activities and climate change ...
Evolution
Sep 27, 2026
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