What the Fish? Tales from the Field Photo Gallery

Tales from the field

Explore a gallery of images from freshwater, marine, and fossil fish fieldwork around the world by the What the Fish podcast fish nerds.

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Fishy Fieldwork Around the World

In this gallery you will see some photos from our fishy fieldwork around the world to collect freshwater, marine, and fossil fishes. To hear tales of our field adventures, please check out our podcast!

Preparing an Otter Trawl

Getting ready to release an otter trawl for collecting deep-sea fishes off the coast of San Diego.

Sorting a Bottom Trawl from just off California

Janet Voight, Kevin Swagel, Chris Jones, and Leo Smith sorting the bottom trawl, which contained mostly flatfishes and sea urchins.

An Assortment of Midwater Fishes from the San Diego Trough

A selection of deep-sea fishes collected off the coast of San Diego, California. Among the fishes collected are deep-sea hatchetfishes and dragonfishes.

Deep-sea Dragonfish (Stomias atriventer) from off California

A dragonfish collected off the coast of San Diego, California. This dragonfish is an open ocean predatory fish that attracts prety in the deep sea with it's bioluminescent barbel.

Pacific Midshipman (Porichthys notatus) from off San Diego

A Pacific Midshipman (Porichthys) collected in a bottom trawl off of San Diego. The white dots on its underbelly are bioluminescent light organs. This fish is called a midshipman because these light organs look like the buttons on a midshipman's uniform. Unlike most fishes, the bioluminescent toadfishes get their chemicals necessary for bioluminescence from their diet.

Trawling for fishes in the Gulf of Mexico

View of choppy ocean waves during an expedition to survey fishes in the Gulf of Mexico aboard the R/V Pelican.

Gulf of Mexico Batfish

Specimen of a Ogcocephalus batfish collected in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. Batfishes are laterally compressed and sit on the bottom of the sea floor.

Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) from the Gulf of Mexico

This large Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) was collected in the Gulf of Mexico. Cobia are open ocean swimmers that can grow to be 6 ft long and over 150 lbs!

Snorkeling off the Coast of Madagascar

Snorkeling for marine fishes in Madagascar.

Malagasy Coral Reef Fish Collection from a Single Coral Head

An assortment of different marine fishes collected in Madagascar!

Riverine Habitat in Panama

A freshwater river in Panama, filled with a diverse assemblage of fishes including cichlids, tetras, and livebearers.

Panamanian Cichlid

A neotropical cichlid (Tomocichla sieboldii) collected in Panama. This fish can be found in rivers of Costa Rica and Panama.

Chinle Formation

Upper Triassic Chinle Formation in Lisbon Valley, Southeastern Utah. This area was once covered with various streams, rivers, and lakes over 210 million years ago.

A Fish Encased in Rock

This fossil fish was found lodged in the ceiling of a small cave in Lisbon Valley, Utah. This particular fish specimen is still partially enclosed in rock, with only the posterior end of the fish having been exposed over the course of 200 million years.

Fossil Semionotiform Fish

This specimen was collected in the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation in Lisbon Valley, Utah. It is a semionotiform fish, an extinct group of fishes that were covered in thick armor-like scales. This group of fishes are hypothesized to have gone extinct by the end of the Cretaceous period (approximately 65 million years ago).

A Regal Throne with a View

One of the more glamorous aspects of fieldwork is coming up with creative ways for large groups of isolated people to keep some semblence of sanitation and civilization. Case in point: this make-shift toilet in the middle of a Utah desert.