docrowschaef.bsky.social
Post-doctoral Researcher in #BioEd at Middle Tennessee State University studying Science Communication Education | Prairie Ecologist | Hockey Fan | Opinions Are My Own
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#InspirationalIntermission #2025MMM
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Every year I’ve played, I’ve had to have a head bracket and a plant bracket- let this be the year of the plants!!!!
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I am OBSESSED WITH THIS!!!
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Frilled Shark TERRIFIES Tuatara! #2025MMM
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TUATARA swims toward the surface of the bay, fleeing the field of battle and a now even HUNGRIER Frilled Shark!! #2025MMM
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Frilled Shark RELEASES TUATARA!!!!! #2025MMM
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But FRILLED SHARK'S TEETH ARE DEFLECTED by Tuatara's PLATED SCALES! Tuatara's own scales and spines scratch at Frilled Shark's mouth!! #2025MMM
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Frilled Shark's needle-sharp, barbed teeth close around Tuatara's torso... #2025MMM
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With a whip-like strike, Frilled Shark launches forward towards the unsuspecting Tuatara! #2025MMM
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Frilled Shark stealth approaches Tuatara, assessing the potential meal... as frilled shark stomachs hold prey between 1/3 and 1/2 their body length! (Ebert and Compagno, 2009) #2025MMM
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Now swimming, Tuatara's thrashing & splashing attract the attention of the hungry Frilled Shark... #2025MMM
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But Tuatara's handsome display is cut short as a burst of #MMMagic deposits him into the waters of Suruga Bay! #2025MMM
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Mid-March marks the end of the courtship season for Tuatara, so our competitor is looking for a last chance at romance on Stephens Island in New Zealand. He proudly puffs up & displays his spines, strutting around in a "proud walk" (Gans et al, 1984) #2025MMM
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We're back in Suruga Bay, Japan, where Frilled Shark lies in wait in the midwaters. Their eel-like form and fins positioned near the back of their bodies suggest that they may wait for food to come to them, then strike with snake-like precision! (Ebert and Compagno, 2009) #2025MMM
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The Tuatara is one cold-blooded competitor - literally! Because they can't regulate their own body temperature, they use behavior to beat the heat or survive the cold. They're sensitive enough to change the temperatures they prefer based on humidity! (Corkery et al. 2013) #2025MMM
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The Frilled Shark, fresh off the fern-y carnage of round one, is hungry for battle (and squid)! While these sharks spend a lot of time in the ocean depths, especially in warmer summer months (Tanaka et. al 1990), they spend time higher up in the water during cooler months looking for a meal #2025MMM
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Oh I love this question! I think it’s the relationships. We don’t often teach our students how collaborative science is, and the amazing people I’ve worked with have made everything that much more amazing.
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It was my first visit and I was blown away! Such a well-designed aquarium!
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The way I fell in love with them while researching this battle is such a proof of concept for #2025MMM. Sturgeons have my entire heart now.
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Thank you so much! This is a dream come true!
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These are SO BEAUTIFUL!!!😍
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#2025MMM I had so much fun painting these. The sturgeon skin particularly!
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I was literally at that aquarium on Tuesday and thinking about this battle the WHOLE TIME #2025MMM
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TUATARA OUTLASTS STURGEON!! #2025MMM
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Recently, tests have been developed to tell apart the eggs of different sturgeon species to assist in stopping the illegal trade of endangered sturgeon caviar (Boscari et al. 2013), but that deterrent isn't enough to stop these opportunistic poachers. #2025MMM
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OH NO... a drift bottom gillnet has captured the CRITICALLY ENDANGERED Starry Sturgeon as illegal poachers seek a criminal payday for her eggs... aka CAVIAR!!! #2025MMM
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and then submerges to the riverbed... Starry Sturgeon don't feed during their spring migration! (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 2021) #2025MMM
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Starry Sturgeon swims right up to Tuatara... #2025MMM
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The Starry Sturgeon swims closer... closer... closer... to the Tuatara... #2025MMM
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All of a sudden #MMMagic translocates Tuatara to the chilly waters of the Danube River... but Tuatara is cold tolerant & can swim in waters down to 41F! (Thompson & Daugherty 1998) #2025MMM
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Meanwhile, on Stephens Island in New Zealand, the morning dawn ends Tuatara's nocturnal hunting. After a summer of hunting seabird eggs & nestlings, in the austral autumn Tuatara's meals are primarily bugs & other invertebrates (Fraser, 1993). #2025MMM
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But tonight, Starry Sturgeon is abandoning the Black Sea, laden with eggs, she swims against the current of the Danube River delta, heading upriver for the spring spawning! (Ceapa et al. 2002). #2025MMM
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Tonight's battle takes place in Eastern Europe. In winter Starry Sturgeon lurked along the bed of the Black Sea, chowing down on fish, worms, & crustaceans detected with her whisker-like sensory organ (barbels). Without teeth, she suctions prey into her large, bottom-facing mouth. #2025MMM
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Don't be deceived! Even though Tuatara look like lizards, they are in fact the only living member of the order Rhynchocephalia, which means "beak head"! The name Tuatara comes from a Māori word meaning "peaks or spikes on the back." This reptile tips the scales at 2.2 lbs (4.5 stoats) #2025MMM
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Sturgeons as a group are known for their elongated snoots (formally "rostra"). They contain electroreceptors, which allow them to sense electric fields in the water! Like their cousins the paddlefish, sturgeon use these electroreceptors to tell when dinner is nearby! (Zhang et al. 2012) #2025MMM
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Clocking in at a whopping 180 lbs (364 stoats) and 7.2 feet (6.5 stoats) long, the Starry Sturgeon is a real aquatic heavyweight. Maxing out at 29 years old, these fish are also older and wiser, making for a powerful combatant (Bakhshalizadeh et al., 2012). #2025MMM
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You're in for such a ride! The newest season has been really good but yeah if you don't know what to expect, this show can really get you!