Noted aquatic fauna expert Heiko Schoenfuss is featured in a National Science Foundation (NSF) video for his expertise and research about unusual Hawaiian fish.
With support from the NSF, the professor of biology along with other scientists and students from St. Cloud State and Clemson universities have made multiple trips to Hawaii to investigate the adaptation and evolution of Sicyopterus stimpsoni, the “inching climber” goby fish. The tiny fish use oral and pelvic suction cups to scale rocks behind waterfalls, an arduous trip that takes them from the ocean to freshwater spawning grounds.
He likens the work of the “inching climber” goby fish to a human scaling Mount Everest three times in a short time span.
Schoenfuss also studies how fish in rivers like the Mississippi adapt to chemicals in the water, among other research that is ongoing at St. Cloud State.
