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.
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.
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)
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.
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
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)