The red lionfish (Pterois volitans)WIKIMEDIA, ALBERT KOKThe story of Lauren Arrington and her science fair project, for which she exposed invasive red lionfish (Pterois volitans) in aquaria to brackish water to test the animals’ tolerance for low salinities, has taken on a life of its own. Several news outlets (including The Scientist) reported on how academic researchers followed up on Arrington’s project and confirmed her findings—that lionfish could survive salinities far below the previously established limit. But one researcher, former Florida International University (FIU) PhD student Zack Jud, is calling foul.
On Monday (July 21) Jud posted comments on his Facebook page expressing his frustration with the fact that his “name has been intentionally left out” of the flurry of online articles reporting the story. “The little girl did a science fair project based on my PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED DISCOVERY of lionfish living in low-salinity estuarine habitats,” he wrote.
The Scientist contacted Jud to get a more complete accounting of what happened with Arrington’s science fair project and the subsequent Environmental Biology of Fishes paper, on which Jud was listed as first author. “The real issue is not about a science fair project,” he said. “It’s about acknowledging a scientist who has worked for years and years to solve these problems.”
Jud said that his frustration stems ...
