Cat Sheppard

How to record stereo video of 15 fish at once - exploring how complexity shapes fine scale space use in individual reef fish

Book cover for Reproducible Code guide. The cover has a red background with a large yellow-bodied black-headed stag beetle.

Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!

Familiarity mediated by body size predicts intraspecific aggression in farming damselfishes - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abstract Aggressive territoriality can have significant benefits for resource acquisition yet is a costly behaviour. Selection should therefore favour mechanisms that allow individuals to modify their...

Third paper from my PhD at @lancasteruni.bsky.social out now. Territorial farming damselfish are more aggressive to smaller neighbours than strangers @envisiondtp.bsky.social #fishinbottles #angrydamsels #nastyneighbours

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I am very pleased to announce I have officially accepted an @hfspo.bsky.social HFSP Postdoctoral Fellowship, hosted by MARE, University of Lisbon, and Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology 🥳 I am exceptionally grateful for this opportunity and can't wait for the exciting projects ahead 🐠

Congrats to all HFSP New Fellowship Awardees! 2025 Edition!

🥳Congrats to the 50 outstanding postdocs from 25 nations awarded 2025 #HFSPFellowships! 🎉These brilliant minds are shaping the future of #LifeSciences!🧪
🏆Are you one of them? Tag yourself & celebrate!
📖 Meet the new fellows: www.hfsp.org/bookletFS2025#book/
#HFSP #NextGenResearchers #sts

Throwback to my PhD viva (because I have officially left Twitter). Already feels like a long time ago.

Our results support the idea that co-occurrence of herbivorous fish functional groups offers additional benefits to reef benthic state. Protecting herbivores in an effort to preserve coral reef health must consider fine-scale community composition as well as overall abundance.

We identify farming damselfish and excavating parrotfish as potential key determinants of the coral reef benthic state and highlight that co-occurrence of cropping and scraping herbivores may promote coral accretion

Using diversity–interaction models, we found that functional group co-occurrence, in addition to diversity, was correlated with reduced algal cover and increased coral accretion. (Colours represent proportional abundance of different functional groups

Using data from 601 sites across the Western Atlantic, we investigated how the co-occurrence of different functional groups offers additional benefits to diversity-driven ecosystem function.

First published paper for my PhD out now in @GEB_macro open access. We found that the co-occurrence of herbivorous fish functional groups correlates with reduced algal cover and increased coral accretion.@Sal_Keith @RemoteReefs @DanExton @LecReefs

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ge…

Taken down by these viruses - really disappointed not to be there! But if anyone has comments, questions or wants to chat about angry damsels, please feel free to DM 🐠 Happy RCUK!

t.co/Tnv4uVXQOv

Pre #EAB2021 trip to the museum 🦖 @BritishEcolSoc

Excited to be at my first in person conference as a PhD student, in the beautiful city of #edinburgh. Looking forward to a day of #coralreefs

#RCUK2021 @LecReefs

Our take on how living in groups affects the causes and consequences of specialisation. Out in @asab_tweets

Over the moon to present the final paper from my MRes: Individual foraging specialization in group-living species.

Link available until 08 Jan.@HarryHMarshall @CantMichael @UniExeCEC @AnimBehSociety

authors.elsevier.com/c/1e6SPmjLwpnn

New t̶o̶y̶ serious science equipment ready for the field

Really cool findings by @MichaelGBertram on how Prozac not only affects bold behaviours, but can also impact reproductive behaviours in mosquitofish @BritishEcolSoc #BES2020

Fantastic keynote by @AndyPurvisNHM to kick off day 2 of #BES2020: Bending the curve of biodiversity change. Act now or pay more later @BritishEcolSoc

Enjoying the creative side of #BES2020 with #DrawYourStudyOrganism. Three-spot damselfish, Stegastes planifrons 🐠🖌 Are watercolours cheating? 😆

Amazing but scary figures in @xuemeibai_aus Plenary Lecture at #BES2020. Animal biomass 4 Gt. Plastic 8 Gt!

Fantastic talk by @TimACGordon at #RCUK2020 on reef soundscapes! Hugely impactful way for people to "listen" and stand up for our coral reefs 🐟🦐🐠

Damselfish domesticate tiny shrimp to fertilise their farms. Incredible! :D

t.co/zrUqiMeFRL