And the Sea

moreanimalia asked: Just cuz I want to talk to someone because of reasons... what is your ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE fish? Favourite marine fish family/group? And if you could do anything at all, what would you do?

Haha, that’s a fair enough excuse, I’ll pay it.

Absolute favourite fish?

I don’t have one and I’d be lying if I said I did. I’ve got a few I really appreciate for one reason or another, like the Regal Angelfish, (Pygoplites diacanthus) and the Longfin Anthias, (Pseudanthias ventralis ventralis), and these are what drive me to love fish.

I love fish which are unusual somehow. Ones which are a bit “oddball”; colouration, behaviour, biology, personality… if there’s something which deviates from the main, I’m interested. I’m also captivated by “mesophotic” fish - ie. ones which live in the mesophotic region and beyond.

Favourite family/group?

Pomacanthidae. Hands down. Although, Chaetodontidae and Anthiinae are pretty close too. But, Angelfish will always be my favourites; as I progress through study, I hope to get to actually research them for a number of their interesting behaviours.

If I had to pick a genus, it’d probably be Centropyge.

If I could do anything, what would I do?

Make the world a much better place. I won’t qualify that further because at this juncture I’m not exactly sure what “better” would consist of, but whatever it is, I think it could save us all.

Failing that, I’d love to spend my life studying the intricacies of nature and using that to our benefit. I’m kind of doing that already at QUT and with a few of my consulting contracts, but I would love it to be a more long-term arrangement.