Sutherland Lab
@sutherland-lab.bsky.social
Welcome to the Sutherland Lab! We study interactions between marine plankton and the fluid environment. Based at University of Oregon 🦆
www.sutherlandlab.org
www.sutherlandlab.org
Happy #WorldOceansDay from two weird and wonderful marine creatures: a Venus's Girdle #ctenophore and a #squid. Observed while #blackwaterdiving off the coast of Kona, HI, in May 2025.
June 9, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Happy #WorldOceansDay from two weird and wonderful marine creatures: a Venus's Girdle #ctenophore and a #squid. Observed while #blackwaterdiving off the coast of Kona, HI, in May 2025.
From November 2024 to April 2025, we welcomed Guilherme von Montfort, a visiting PhD researcher from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande in Brazil to study these fascinating creatures. His work examines the prey capture mechanisms and ecological impact of small jellyfish through video analysis.
June 4, 2025 at 9:00 PM
From November 2024 to April 2025, we welcomed Guilherme von Montfort, a visiting PhD researcher from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande in Brazil to study these fascinating creatures. His work examines the prey capture mechanisms and ecological impact of small jellyfish through video analysis.
Did you know jellyfish are some of the ocean's oldest hunters?
These videos show Liriope tetraphylla - a globally distributed hydrozoan jellyfish - capturing a copepod (Acartia tonsa). These small predators have perfected their hunting strategy over millions of years.
These videos show Liriope tetraphylla - a globally distributed hydrozoan jellyfish - capturing a copepod (Acartia tonsa). These small predators have perfected their hunting strategy over millions of years.
June 4, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Did you know jellyfish are some of the ocean's oldest hunters?
These videos show Liriope tetraphylla - a globally distributed hydrozoan jellyfish - capturing a copepod (Acartia tonsa). These small predators have perfected their hunting strategy over millions of years.
These videos show Liriope tetraphylla - a globally distributed hydrozoan jellyfish - capturing a copepod (Acartia tonsa). These small predators have perfected their hunting strategy over millions of years.
This little spaceship is a baby sand dollar.
It catches particles of food using cilia (tiny hairs). By feeding fluorescent food particles, we're studying which particles it can and cannot catch, which could have implications for the microbes and phytoplankton in the ocean.
It catches particles of food using cilia (tiny hairs). By feeding fluorescent food particles, we're studying which particles it can and cannot catch, which could have implications for the microbes and phytoplankton in the ocean.
June 4, 2025 at 8:56 PM
This little spaceship is a baby sand dollar.
It catches particles of food using cilia (tiny hairs). By feeding fluorescent food particles, we're studying which particles it can and cannot catch, which could have implications for the microbes and phytoplankton in the ocean.
It catches particles of food using cilia (tiny hairs). By feeding fluorescent food particles, we're studying which particles it can and cannot catch, which could have implications for the microbes and phytoplankton in the ocean.
In linear chains, individuals are lined up one behind the other so that the frontal area of the colony stays the same no matter how many individuals there are. This means that larger colonies get more propulsion without increasing their drag. This makes linear colonies the fastest salp shape!
June 4, 2025 at 8:55 PM
In linear chains, individuals are lined up one behind the other so that the frontal area of the colony stays the same no matter how many individuals there are. This means that larger colonies get more propulsion without increasing their drag. This makes linear colonies the fastest salp shape!
In the transversal chain colony shape, individuals are lined up side-by-side so the frontal area increases with more individuals (moving like a chain of people holding hands and walking forward.) The large frontal area makes transversal salp colonies fairly slow swimmers.
June 4, 2025 at 8:55 PM
In the transversal chain colony shape, individuals are lined up side-by-side so the frontal area increases with more individuals (moving like a chain of people holding hands and walking forward.) The large frontal area makes transversal salp colonies fairly slow swimmers.
Similar to whorls, cluster colonies also have individuals perpendicular to the colony overall and get “wider” with more individuals. But in clusters, the individuals are held apart from each other by long peduncles. Despite some similarities with whorls, this shape is a surprisingly fast swimmer.
June 4, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Similar to whorls, cluster colonies also have individuals perpendicular to the colony overall and get “wider” with more individuals. But in clusters, the individuals are held apart from each other by long peduncles. Despite some similarities with whorls, this shape is a surprisingly fast swimmer.
In whorl shaped colonies, the individuals are oriented perpendicular to the colony overall, and colonies with more individuals have a larger frontal area (they are “wider”). This shape has the slowest swimming speed, though the speed increases with a larger number of individuals propelling it along.
June 4, 2025 at 8:55 PM
In whorl shaped colonies, the individuals are oriented perpendicular to the colony overall, and colonies with more individuals have a larger frontal area (they are “wider”). This shape has the slowest swimming speed, though the speed increases with a larger number of individuals propelling it along.
Some marine animals eat tiny particles by filtering them out of the water. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) allowed for a close-up look at some of the particles ingested by salps, pyrosomes, doliolids, and other #zooplankton. Read more here: doi.org/10.1007/s002... (March 2025)
June 4, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Some marine animals eat tiny particles by filtering them out of the water. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) allowed for a close-up look at some of the particles ingested by salps, pyrosomes, doliolids, and other #zooplankton. Read more here: doi.org/10.1007/s002... (March 2025)
Appendicularians are small tadpole-shaped marine animals that catch food particles in their mucus mesh “house”. The charge of particles’ surfaces affects whether they are ingested into the appendicularian’s gut or retained in the house - read more here: doi.org/10.1002/lno.... (Feb 2025)
June 4, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Appendicularians are small tadpole-shaped marine animals that catch food particles in their mucus mesh “house”. The charge of particles’ surfaces affects whether they are ingested into the appendicularian’s gut or retained in the house - read more here: doi.org/10.1002/lno.... (Feb 2025)
Sure, extending its tentacles will expose this hydroid to the many dangers of life.
But it will also open it up to life's many joys and opportunities, such as food drifting by!
Many jellyfish in the class Hydrozoa have a "hydroid" life stage in addition to the jellyfish "medusa" stage. (Feb 2025)
But it will also open it up to life's many joys and opportunities, such as food drifting by!
Many jellyfish in the class Hydrozoa have a "hydroid" life stage in addition to the jellyfish "medusa" stage. (Feb 2025)
June 4, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Sure, extending its tentacles will expose this hydroid to the many dangers of life.
But it will also open it up to life's many joys and opportunities, such as food drifting by!
Many jellyfish in the class Hydrozoa have a "hydroid" life stage in addition to the jellyfish "medusa" stage. (Feb 2025)
But it will also open it up to life's many joys and opportunities, such as food drifting by!
Many jellyfish in the class Hydrozoa have a "hydroid" life stage in addition to the jellyfish "medusa" stage. (Feb 2025)
600+ jellies and 2000+ gonads later...
Over the past year, undergrad researcher Will Bird has been measuring body size and gonad size (the four white squiggles) in hundreds of photographs of the small but abundant hydromedusa Clytia gregaria. (Jan 2025)
Over the past year, undergrad researcher Will Bird has been measuring body size and gonad size (the four white squiggles) in hundreds of photographs of the small but abundant hydromedusa Clytia gregaria. (Jan 2025)
June 4, 2025 at 8:37 PM
600+ jellies and 2000+ gonads later...
Over the past year, undergrad researcher Will Bird has been measuring body size and gonad size (the four white squiggles) in hundreds of photographs of the small but abundant hydromedusa Clytia gregaria. (Jan 2025)
Over the past year, undergrad researcher Will Bird has been measuring body size and gonad size (the four white squiggles) in hundreds of photographs of the small but abundant hydromedusa Clytia gregaria. (Jan 2025)
Close-up on an Aequorea victoria hydromedusa, collected as it swam by the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (November 2024)
June 4, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Close-up on an Aequorea victoria hydromedusa, collected as it swam by the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (November 2024)
Often, to study gelatinous zooplankton we venture out to the ocean to meet them where they live. But for a closer look, sometimes we bring them into the lab. In summer 2024, PhD candidate Farzana Yesmin investigated the growth of the hydromedusa Clytia gregaria by photographing them as they grew.
June 4, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Often, to study gelatinous zooplankton we venture out to the ocean to meet them where they live. But for a closer look, sometimes we bring them into the lab. In summer 2024, PhD candidate Farzana Yesmin investigated the growth of the hydromedusa Clytia gregaria by photographing them as they grew.
In·flu·ence, a short film co-directed by Kelly Sutherland and Evan Luchkow, screened at the Planet in Focus film festival in Toronto in October 2024!
The film repurposed fluid dynamics tools to examine the interactions between humans and the world around us.
The film repurposed fluid dynamics tools to examine the interactions between humans and the world around us.
June 4, 2025 at 8:29 PM
In·flu·ence, a short film co-directed by Kelly Sutherland and Evan Luchkow, screened at the Planet in Focus film festival in Toronto in October 2024!
The film repurposed fluid dynamics tools to examine the interactions between humans and the world around us.
The film repurposed fluid dynamics tools to examine the interactions between humans and the world around us.
During spring term 2024, undergrad researchers Audrey Lillie, Will Bird, and Ezra Bergson-Michelson studied the physiology of chaetognaths (pictured), hydromedusae, and salps by measuring anatomy of individual organisms in photos.
June 4, 2025 at 8:26 PM
During spring term 2024, undergrad researchers Audrey Lillie, Will Bird, and Ezra Bergson-Michelson studied the physiology of chaetognaths (pictured), hydromedusae, and salps by measuring anatomy of individual organisms in photos.
The chain-forming salp, Iasis cylindrica, swims in helices! Using blue-water SCUBA diving and 3D videography we described the mechanics of this movement which is rarely studied in organisms larger than 1cm. Read more here: doi.org/10.1126/scia... (May 2024)
Funded by @moorefound.bsky.social
Funded by @moorefound.bsky.social
June 4, 2025 at 8:24 PM
The chain-forming salp, Iasis cylindrica, swims in helices! Using blue-water SCUBA diving and 3D videography we described the mechanics of this movement which is rarely studied in organisms larger than 1cm. Read more here: doi.org/10.1126/scia... (May 2024)
Funded by @moorefound.bsky.social
Funded by @moorefound.bsky.social
Undergrad researcher Hannah Rosenfeld investigated feeding selectivity among animals that employ various suspension-feeding mechanisms to collect particles from the water. (Rotifers use cilia to make a vortex which draws food particles toward their mouth.) (March 2024)
June 4, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Undergrad researcher Hannah Rosenfeld investigated feeding selectivity among animals that employ various suspension-feeding mechanisms to collect particles from the water. (Rotifers use cilia to make a vortex which draws food particles toward their mouth.) (March 2024)
Peristaltic pumps are common in industrial and even in everyday settings. A cosmopolitan marine organism (the appendicularian, Oikopleura dioica), uses a novel peristaltic pump based on a tail that undulates inside a tightly fitting chamber. Nov. 2023 paper: doi.org/10.1098/rsif...
June 4, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Peristaltic pumps are common in industrial and even in everyday settings. A cosmopolitan marine organism (the appendicularian, Oikopleura dioica), uses a novel peristaltic pump based on a tail that undulates inside a tightly fitting chamber. Nov. 2023 paper: doi.org/10.1098/rsif...
Introducing a contender for Most Elegant Animal in the Ocean: the Appendicularian! In Oct. 2023, Terra Hiebert and collaborators Anne Thompson and Carey Sweeney @bluewaterlab.bsky.social went to the @msarscentre.bsky.social in Bergen, Norway to study appendicularian feeding selectivity.
June 4, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Introducing a contender for Most Elegant Animal in the Ocean: the Appendicularian! In Oct. 2023, Terra Hiebert and collaborators Anne Thompson and Carey Sweeney @bluewaterlab.bsky.social went to the @msarscentre.bsky.social in Bergen, Norway to study appendicularian feeding selectivity.
This #ctenophore Lampea lactea is specialized in eating salps. This adult individual is attempting to ingest a solitary Cyclosalpa sewelli salp off the coast of Hawaii. Video by Brad Gemmell. (July 2023)
June 4, 2025 at 8:07 PM
This #ctenophore Lampea lactea is specialized in eating salps. This adult individual is attempting to ingest a solitary Cyclosalpa sewelli salp off the coast of Hawaii. Video by Brad Gemmell. (July 2023)
While working and living at sea for weeks at a time can be tough, there is always time for smiles, laughter, and learning. Photos of smiling scientists at sea by #scicomm intern Carmen Sanchez-Reddick (March 2023)
June 4, 2025 at 8:05 PM
While working and living at sea for weeks at a time can be tough, there is always time for smiles, laughter, and learning. Photos of smiling scientists at sea by #scicomm intern Carmen Sanchez-Reddick (March 2023)
Check out our March 2023 paper in @nature.com Scientific Reports quantifying the feeding behavior and trophic impact of #ctenophore Ocyropsis using high-resolution imaging methods. Unlike other ctenophores, Ocyropsis uses muscular lobes and a prehensile mouth to capture prey. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
June 4, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Check out our March 2023 paper in @nature.com Scientific Reports quantifying the feeding behavior and trophic impact of #ctenophore Ocyropsis using high-resolution imaging methods. Unlike other ctenophores, Ocyropsis uses muscular lobes and a prehensile mouth to capture prey. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Some of the gelatinous #zooplankton we collected off the Oregon coast: a large Pacific sea nettle jellyfish , small hydromedusa jellyfish Clytia and Eutonina, Tomopteris polychaete worms, and thousands of doliolids. Photos by #scicomm intern Carmen Sanchez-Reddick (Feb 2023)
June 4, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Some of the gelatinous #zooplankton we collected off the Oregon coast: a large Pacific sea nettle jellyfish , small hydromedusa jellyfish Clytia and Eutonina, Tomopteris polychaete worms, and thousands of doliolids. Photos by #scicomm intern Carmen Sanchez-Reddick (Feb 2023)
Working with #zooplankton aboard the Feb. 2023 research cruise: catching zooplankton in a net, sorting zooplankton in trays by hand, and finally photographing individual organisms for measurements later on. Photos by #scicomm intern Carmen Sanchez-Reddick
June 4, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Working with #zooplankton aboard the Feb. 2023 research cruise: catching zooplankton in a net, sorting zooplankton in trays by hand, and finally photographing individual organisms for measurements later on. Photos by #scicomm intern Carmen Sanchez-Reddick