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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima
@drjeffshima.bsky.social
650 followers 810 following 24 posts
Professor of marine ecology at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Interested in population dynamics, larval biology, movement ecology, evolution of life histories, and otoliths. Lately fascinated by reef fish/myctophid interactions!
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · 24d
We’re hiring (again)! 🌊🐟
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer (≈ US Assistant Prof) in marine biology/marine ecology @ Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, NZ.
NZ lifestyle, fantastic temperate reefs, a marine lab by the sea, & great colleagues 🌊
Apply here 👉 tinyurl.com/366jnm5d
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Jul 22
Listen to the latest media coverage of our research, on Radio New Zealand's 'Our Changing World' podcast

(available on Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts)
www.rnz.co.nz/news/ourchan...
Our Changing World: The dance of the lanternfish
Researchers are investigating whether tiny lanternfish play an outsized role in controlling fish life cycles and carbon storage in the ocean.
www.rnz.co.nz
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Reposted by Jeff Shima
jebyrnes.bsky.social
Jarrett Byrnes @jebyrnes.bsky.social · Feb 25
Do #kelp forests really matter for fish? Check out our new meta-analysis w/ Ale Pérez-Matus in Ecology showing 1) multistipe kelps do more than single stipe, 2) all kelps enhance juveniles, 3) kelps help small herbivores & big predators.

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Dec 11
Come join us at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand! We are hiring a tenure-track marine biologist/ecologist (Lecturer/Senior Lecturer = US Assistant Professor). NZ lifestyle, a beautiful marine lab, and great colleagues! tinyurl.com/ymmdsjus Please share widely!
School of Biological Sciences building, Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand)
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Dec 4
Gutted by NZ Government’s sweeping unilateral defunding of research excellence in New Zealand, announced today. Funding for humanities cut to 0, ‘blue skies’ discovery research reduced by half. Expert responses on deep cuts to @marsdenfund.bsky.social & catalyst fund covered on @smcnz.bsky.social
nicgaston.bsky.social
Ni-cola Ga-stan @nicgaston.bsky.social · Dec 4
My full comments on the cuts to the Marsden Fund of the @royalsocietynz.bsky.social are now up here:
Govt cuts humanities and social science funding - Expert Reaction
Humanities and social science funding has been cut from the Marsden Fund, the main fund for 'blue-skies' research in Aotearoa New Zealand. The areas that have been cut include research in subjects lik...
www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz
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Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 29
The team were fishing with a combination of IKMT, RMT, and MOCNESS—but I think most of the specimens pictured would have come out of the RMT.
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Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 28
Please add me!
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 28
I study fish movements!
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 27
Hi Chris - I'm not sure, but I think there was a suggestion that it could have been an early life stage of the fangtooth, Anoplogaster cornuta. The team also captured the adults of this species in the nets.
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 27
Critters from the deep sea never cease to amaze me! They really are "textbook exemplars" of adaptation. Lanternfish are, of course, the coolest--but other critters are neat too! 🧵(3/3)
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 27
"The Great Migration" voyage (TAN2412) was an amazing success by any metric. Big thanks to Voyage Leader Amandine Sabadal, fish experts Andrew Stewart and Mike Miller, and all the other wonderful participants and crew! 🧵 (2/3)
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 27
"The Great Migration" voyage (TAN2412) has wrapped, and our team successfully sampled 1575 myctophids comprising 33 species from a latitudinal gradient spanning New Zealand to New Caledonia. A treasure trove for our future work! 🧵(1/3)
sampling stations where we collected myctophids Niamh Smith, Alisha Gill lanternfish (myctophids) from the voyage
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Oct 17
Its "D-Day" for the "The Great Migration" TAN2412 voyage of the RV Tangaroa, and our lab members Niamh Smith and Alisha Gill are aboard and geared up to catch lanternfish for the next 35 days! - super excited to follow their exploits!
@vicuniwgtn.bsky.social @marsdenfund.bsky.social
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Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Aug 7
Why do sixbars spawn on baby-killing new moons? Parents may trade-off offspring survival for offspring sex determination, to maximise production of their grandchildren! (6/6)
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
Lunar rhythms and their carry-over effects may shape environmental sex determination in a coral reef fish
royalsocietypublishing.org
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Aug 7
This may be the first example of environmental sex determination driven by moonlight! Spawning patterns of sixbar adults closely resemble birthdates of males. Selection patterns suggest adults may spawn on new moons to make males, full moons to make females. Super cool! (5/6)
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Aug 7
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”. Most sixbars born on a new moon will die. But for survivors, their developmental plasticity shapes future traits that position new moon babies at the top of a dominance hierarchy. (4/6)
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Aug 7
Sex differentiation is environmentally sensitive and determined early in ontogeny for many wrasses, including sixbars. Socially dominant juveniles are more likely to mature as males. Males can potentially mate with many females to increase their fitness. (3/6)
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Aug 7
Why do sixbar wrasse spawn the most eggs at the new moon—a time that effectively kills more of their offspring? We suspect compensatory benefits later in life. We know offspring have developmental plasticity, and also that new moon birthdates benefit larval growth… (2/6)
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Aug 7
Do fish use the moon to manipulate the sex of their offspring? See our latest paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B! (1/6) royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Apr 16
Come join us at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand! We’ve just advertised for a tenure-track Conservation Biologist/Ecologist, more details here: tinyurl.com/4vb836yv Please share widely!
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 22
Latest article in Hakai Magazine, highlighting the importance of lanternfishes and other creatures of the mesopelagic. A fantastic synopsis by Moria Donovan: hakaimagazine.com/features/all...
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Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 3
Find out more here: tinyurl.com/utfba9em
drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 3
We hope to solve mesopelagic mysteries in this new collaboration with Steve Swearer, Alice Della Penna, Steve Wing, Suzie Mills, and Shaun Killen. Made possible by @marsdenfund.bsky.social . Find out more here!  tinyurl.com/utfba9em and stay tuned for student opportunities!
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drjeffshima.bsky.social
Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 3
We’re ‘shining a light on lanternfish’ thanks to a new grant from the Marsden Fund How might lanternfish contribute to the global carbon cycle?  How might they shape life histories, population dynamics, and productivity in coastal ecosystems? @marsdenfund.bsky.social
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Jeff Shima @drjeffshima.bsky.social · Nov 3
So proud of our most recent lab alumni—Jaye Barclay and Emma O’Malley, joining the honours board at our Coastal Ecology Lab, graduating with fantastic MSc theses, and moving onward and upward!
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