New McIntyre lab website

Recently, our research lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Limnology, headed by Pete McIntyre, launched a new website! This goal of this website is to serve as an outlet for the numerous research and outreach activities pertaining to migratory fishes that go on within our group. The majority of the projects that the McIntyre lab is involved with are related to the Laurentian (American) Great Lakes, but also documents work from the Great Lakes of Africa (Lake Tanganyika in particular) and my work in Southeast Asia.

You can visit the new website here. I'm sure I'll be linking to updates on the site periodically, but check it out for yourself!

Poisson du jour

Fish of the Day: Bagarius yarrelli (Sykes, 1841)

Bagarius yarrelli is a coveted fish sought after by many local fishermen during dry season.

Bagarius yarrelli is a coveted fish sought after by many local fishermen during dry season.

This whiskered fish, referred to in many places as goonch, can be found from the Ganges and Indus Rivers of India, throughout Southeast Asia, and south into Indonesia. In the Ngao River, a tributary of the Salween River, local children call B. yarrelli "lizard fish." One look at the textured skin and eyes of this fish and you can understand why. Several reports from the mid-19th century recorded  B. yarrelli attaining lengths up to 2 meters long (6.5 feet). Today, however, observed specimens are typically significantly smaller (~35 cm) due to intense fishing pressure through much of their range. This fish is one of the few fish in my study system that have true teeth, which they effectively use to feed on prawns, fish, and some aquatic insects. These fish prefer fast flowing currents and tend to hang out among large submerged rocks and boulders. For more information and photos, check out B. yarrelli at FishBase.org.

Bagarius yarrelli have sharp conical teeth which aid them in catching prawns and fish.

Bagarius yarrelli have sharp conical teeth which aid them in catching prawns and fish.

Up and running!

No time like the present, right? I have been meaning to get a website together for at least 3 years now. Even my advisor told me to prioritize it. So, here we go. Hopefully this site will serve as a forum for not only communicating my science, but also my experiences doing fieldwork, interacting with Southeast Asian communities, and posting gratuitous pictures of fish.