#brown-bullhead-catfish
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novascotiamuseum.bsky.social
Have you seen any brown bullhead catfish with strange black spots or lumps?

We are collaborating with researchers in collecting catfish from Nova Scotia that may have an interesting form of cancer.
Brown bullhead catfish with strange black spots and lumps.
October 1, 2026 at 5:14 PM
maxstammnitz.bsky.social
Wow! A fourth class of transmissible cancers. CONTAGIOUS FISH MELANOMA, discovered in Lake Memphremagog (Vermont / Quebec) 🎣 🧬 😷

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@uvmvermont.bsky.social
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 22, 2026 at 7:51 PM
nature.com
Nature research paper: Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer

go.nature.com/4fh8bF8
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
go.nature.com
July 29, 2026 at 10:18 AM
carlzimmer.com
Link to study: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 22, 2026 at 6:45 PM
devoevomed.bsky.social
Can't stop thinking about this; transmissible cancers are so crazy, extremely rare (tassie devils, dogs, some clams), but I wonder why? It seems like it should be very common. It's advantageous for the cancer to escape the dead-end host. And yet...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 22, 2026 at 5:01 PM
marcofesta.bsky.social
Contagious melanoma in catfish from Lac Memphrémagog, about 30 km from where I live. Fourth documented transmissible cancer 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 22, 2026 at 9:39 PM
matthewlmiller.bsky.social
Did you know there are more than 3,000 species of catfish in the world?

They’re found on every continent except Antarctica. It’s Planet Catfish.

#25DaysofFishmas
Blue catfish, caught on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia. Brown bullhead, caught in a cemetery pond in Connecticut.
December 9, 2025 at 3:18 PM
drkatfish.bsky.social
There are 3 species of bullhead catfish in the #GreatLakes: black, brown, and yellow. Yellow is easier to distinguish because of its light-colored barbels (whiskers), but brown/black can be tricky. Black bullheads are generally uniform in color while browns are often more mottled #25DaysofFishmas
Examples of distinguishing features among three catfish (from top to bottom): Black, Brown, and Yellow bullhead.
December 2, 2024 at 2:18 PM
ariskatzourakis.bsky.social
A fourth transmissible cancer this time in fish. The other known types are in dogs, tasmanian devils and clams. There will surely be other examples to be found in nature.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 28, 2026 at 8:13 AM
nicknc.bsky.social
Another photo from my archive. Northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon) struggling to swallow a bullhead catfish. Eno River, North Carolina, 2011. #herps
A northern water snake, banded cream and rust-brown, is coiled in shallow water while it attempts to swallow a catfish head first. The catfish is significantly wider than the snake and has its pectoral spines locked.
February 14, 2024 at 12:50 PM
natureportfolio.nature.com
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer, according to a paper in Nature. go.nature.com/4x4mbI6 #medsky 🧬🧪
This is figure 1, which shows brown bullhead sampling, example melanistic lesions and hypotheses of tumorigenesis.
July 28, 2026 at 4:10 PM
pkbeats.bsky.social
I don't go for catfish very much. The method usually used for em isn't my thing, I'm more of an active fisher, so these Bullhead are about all I've got so far

They've got spines on their dorsal and pectoral fins, so they can be kinda dangerous to handle! Still cool tho

#fish #fishing #nature
Brown Bullhead Brown Bullhead (chompin on a worm)
January 26, 2025 at 4:22 AM
rando.insalubrio.us
Brown bullhead catfish in Vermont's Lake Memphremagog have been found with melanoma at unusually high rates since 2012. Research suggests that the cancer may be contagious, with tumor cells spreading between fish! 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A catfish covered in dark black cancerous spots. Credit: Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department
July 23, 2026 at 11:36 PM
tedpavlic.bsky.social
More transmissible cancer, this time in fish… in Vermont! 🧪

“Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer”
by Curd et al. (2026, Nature)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 22, 2026 at 9:34 PM
skeeterpond.bsky.social
See The Hidden World Of The Brown Bullhead Catfish
YouTube video by The Dave
www.youtube.com
May 22, 2026 at 5:38 AM
cageyratfish.bsky.social
All coastal sculpins, freshwater or marine (except for the cabezon) are commonly called "bullheads" here. there are some introduced brown bullhead catfish in a lake near Victoria, BC, & the other 2 species of bullhead are found in some mainland BC waters. BC has no native catfish species.
February 17, 2026 at 9:09 PM
retronekoart.bsky.social
youtu.be/jYnrZEk_qUA?...
See The Hidden World Of The Brown Bullhead Catfish
YouTube video by The Dave
youtu.be
April 1, 2025 at 12:56 PM
springernature.com
One of our top-rated articles on Altmetric this past week was published open access in Nature. You can read 'Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer' here: spklr.io/63325EPALH

🧪 #CanSky
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
spklr.io
July 24, 2026 at 7:11 PM
cageyratfish.bsky.social
honestly, if you're gonna call a fish a "bullhead", this buffalo sculpin makes much more sense than a catfish. LOL

Also i'm pretty sure that if the Klingon home planet has fish, they all look like variations of this 😻
My photo of the head of a buffalo sculpin, a small mottled brown fish with s big round armoured head and big round orange-trimmed pectoral fins. it is prominently displaying the thick, sharp defensive cheek spines that gave it its name
February 17, 2026 at 9:45 PM
ktvufox2.bsky.social
The first-ever transmissible cancer to spread among fish in a freshwater setting has been discovered among brown bullhead catfish in Lake Memphremagog.
First-known freshwater contagious cancer spreading among catfish in Vermont lake
The first-ever transmissible cancer to spread among fish in a freshwater setting has been discovered among brown bullhead catfish in Lake Memphremagog.
bit.ly
July 24, 2026 at 5:20 PM
rogerwagnermdphd.bsky.social
I find these transmissible tumors fascinating. The most famous example is in Tasmanian Devils.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 28, 2026 at 9:13 PM
chris2fur1943.bsky.social
This is really scary:
Nature paper published July 22 documents a novel transmissible melanoma cancer that afflicts the Brown bullhead catfish population of Lake Memphremagog.
How did this originate?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 23, 2026 at 3:16 PM
aemonten.bsky.social
"These findings indicate that melanoma in these brown bullheads represents the fourth documented type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer in animals, after dogs, Tasmanian devils, and several bivalve species"

doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
doi.org
July 23, 2026 at 3:00 PM
hannahoish.bsky.social
#FishADay Ameiurus nebulosus Brown Bullhead. FW Atlantic and Gulf Slope drainages of NA. First fish species documented to host a transmissible cancer--in this case, a melanoma that doesn't seem to be particularly deadly. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Rare contagious cancer discovered in wild catfish
Transmissible tumours have been found in only a few types of animal, but there might be many more out there.
www.nature.com
September 10, 2026 at 2:28 PM
aftertherain141.bsky.social
2013 along Lake Memphremagog, a large freshwater lake that borders Vermont and Quebec. Anglers and biologists began pulling up brown bullhead catfish with raised black spots on their bodies. It was later found that 23% to 37% of those sampled had confirmed melanoma lesions.😳😵
shorturl.at/cCIYd
Scientists discover 1st known likely transmissible cancer in wild catfish
A study suggests cancer cells may be transferring from one catfish to the next.
www.yahoo.com
July 26, 2026 at 2:11 PM