Varoon Supratya
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varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Varoon Supratya
@varoon-supratya.bsky.social
300 followers 430 following 25 posts
PhD candidate studying bull kelp ecophysiology at the University of British Columbia
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varoon-supratya.bsky.social
For #phycologyfriday: The unusual fishhooks of Bonnemaisonia californica
#rhodophyta #algae #seaweed #intertidal #marinelife #redalgae #marinebiology #science
A magnified view of a finely branched scarlet red seaweed. The main axes have occasional enlarged branchlets that look like swollen hooks
July 18, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
siobhanschenk.bsky.social
Halosaccion glandiforme at Whiffin Spit. This red algae fills with water, likely to prevent desiccation.

🦑 #PhycologyFriday #Intertidal #tidepools
July 11, 2025 at 3:02 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Today for #phycologyfriday: two commonly confused PNW kelps next to each other, from the same site (Whiffin Spit, BC). Left is Saccharina latissima, right Hedophyllum nigripes.
#marinelife #intertidal #pnw #biology #marinebiology #science #kelp #seaweed
Two large bladed kelps lying next to one another on an eelgrass bed. The left kelp is Saccharina latissima, with a narrower and lighter colored blade and stipe, while the right kelp is Hedophyllum nigripes, with a broad dark blade A close up of the stipes of two large kelps. Saccharina on the top has a narrow rounded stipe, Hedophyllum nigripes on the bottom has a broad flattened stipe
July 11, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
siobhanschenk.bsky.social
Pretty barnacles and sponges

🦑 #intertidal
A colony of pink sponges on the bottom of a rock. The top of the rock is colonized by barnacles
July 10, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
siobhanschenk.bsky.social
For this #PhycologyFriday I'm happy to share my ✨new paper✨ about #kelp disease -> rdcu.be/ets28

Pink-spot disease occurs in kelp nurseries across North America and Europe according to our survey and we identified a bacteria (Algicola sp.) as the likely causative agent.

🦑 #aquaculture
A very extreme and unusual presentation of pink-spot disease on a kelp spool
June 27, 2025 at 3:12 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Today for #phycologyfriday: Soranthera ulvoidea, a saccate brown alga that grows only on some species of red algae (in this case Odonthalia floccosa)
#marinelife #tidepools #algae #seaweed
Brown, ball shaped seaweed with wrinkled surfaces grow in a grapelike cluster on a different species of finely branched seaweed in a rocky intertidal zone
June 27, 2025 at 3:57 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Lab grown stipeless bull kelp to reduce tangling in tumble culture. Removal of the stipe before the internal cavity inflates results in the cut sealing over to form a "knot" instead of the usual pneumatocyst + stipe
#phycologyfriday #kelp #marinebiology #science #algae #seaweed
Three unusual looking bull kelp that lack the usual pneumatocyst and stipe
June 13, 2025 at 2:45 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
A gumboot chiton in a medley of seaweeds #phycologyfriday #intertidal #tidepool #marinelife
A mix of predominantly brown and red algae growing off a cobble bottom, with a submerged gumboot chiton in the middle
May 30, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
siobhanschenk.bsky.social
My ✨new paper✨ looking at how low salinity and high temperatures alter the bacterial community of sugar #kelp was just published!

Lab and field results agree: the overall changes are small, but core taxa decrease under abiotic stress

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#PhycologyFriday 🦑
Part of figure 1 for the paper. There is a map of the field sites and an overview of the lab experiment. Field measurements were temperature and salinity. Lab was only salinity
May 30, 2025 at 2:48 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Honoured to have been able to make speaker gifts for the 2025 international seaweed symposium! #phycologyfriday #iss25 #pottery #ceramics #kelp
A three tiered display of brown mugs featuring handles that look like bull kelp stipes and blades that wrap around the mug body
May 9, 2025 at 2:29 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
A very unexpected find: Laminaria ephemera at Stanley Park in a seaweed diversity survey quadrat! I'll be presenting on this project (and others) at #ISS25 - see comments for details.
#phycologyfriday
Two hands holding an individual Laminaria ephemera kelp up for a photo. The kelp is small but a dark spore patch is already visible near the blade base. The holdfast is attached to a pebble which is being held. In the background, the lionsgate bridge is visible.
May 2, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
siobhanschenk.bsky.social
Drift Lessoniopsis for #PhycologyFriday.

Lessoniopsis lives in very wave exposed areas. If you look closely at the stipes, you will find holes made by burrowing amphipods

🦑🧪🌊
Dark brown kelp with light brown stipes on sand. The stipes are short and woody
April 11, 2025 at 2:46 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Blink and you miss it: the spring bloom of Laminaria ephemera, one of the shortest-lived and smallest kelps

#phycologyfriday #intertidal #marinelife #kelp #science
Narrow golden brown blades of the kelp Laminaria ephemera hang from a rock mingled with young blades of other kelp species, filmy ulvoid green algae and various red algae
April 11, 2025 at 3:01 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
A rarity in Canadian waters: Laminaria sinclairii at French Beach, BC.

#laminaria #phycologyfriday #kelp #seaweed #intertidal #marinelife #science #marinebiology #algae
A dense cluster of brown kelp hangs from a half submerged rock. Long dark stipes rise from a hidden rhizomatous holdfast and terminate in straplike, translucent blades
April 4, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
brookeweigel.bsky.social
For #PhycologyFriday, check out this gorgeous red algae (possibly Gloiocladia laciniata) that appears iridescent blue / purple underwater! Photo taken underwater ~6 m depth 🤿
March 28, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
adlysia.bsky.social
Closeups of historical seaweed pressings from the University Herbarium in Berkeley for #PhycologyFriday
March 14, 2025 at 10:01 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Today for #phycologyfriday: a couple of tiny bull kelp sprouting from the shell of a dogwinkle

#bullkelp #nereocystis #kelp #phycology #seaweed #algae #marinelife #intertidal #marinebiology #science #tidepool
Several small bull kelp sprouting from the top of a dogwinkle (marine snail) shell
March 21, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
jensmith11.bsky.social
Happy #PhycologyFriday #Seaweed #Art
March 8, 2025 at 1:58 AM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Today for #phycologyfriday: the gorgeous Erythrophyllum delesserioides, found along exposed, wave-swept coasts of the PNW

#redalgae #erythrophyllum #phycology #marinelife #intertidal #marinebiology #seaweed #algae #science #botany
Narrow blades of seaweed moving in the current. The blades are dark blood red with striking pale veins
March 14, 2025 at 2:47 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Antithamnionella spirographidis under a microscope. Collected at Stanley Park during a long term macroalgal survey by @siobhanschenk.bsky.social and I that was recently accepted as a paper cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

#phycologyfriday #marinelife #intertidal #seaweed #marineecology #science
A microscopic view of a filamentous red alga called Antithamnionella spirographidis. The alga is a filament made of cylindrical cells, with a herringbone-like branching pattern and large, round and dark sporangia at the base of each branch
March 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
siobhanschenk.bsky.social
Some Codium setchellii on a drift Pterygophora californica holdfast for #PhycologyFriday
Close up of the holdfast. The algae are washed up on sand.
March 7, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
cneufeld.bsky.social
From the edge of the Pacific in BC, Canada...

I offer the compact but mighty 'Sea Palm', Postelsia palmaeformis, for this #PhycologyFriday.

"I will bend but I will not break"
February 28, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
swlawrence.bsky.social
Curr. Biol. (2025) 10.1016/j.cub.2024.12.025  Kelp forests are integral + critical to aquatic ecosystems, but species such as giant kelp + bull kelp have experienced population bottlenecks in recent decades.
Graphic of kelp genetics. Giant kelp. In particular, kelp forests are declining in many parts of the northeast Pacific, practically right off my doorstep where we live close to Puget Sound [Salish Sea]. "Bemmels et al. sequenced the genomes of 429 bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) and 211 giant kelp (Macrocystis sp.) from the coastlines of British Columbia and Washington." They found 'low effective population size was associated with low genetic diversity and high inbreeding coefficients (including increased selfing rates), with extreme variation in these genetic health indices among bull kelp populations but more moderate variation in giant kelp.' They found fewer deleterious variants than predicted, but suspect their loss was more likely due to genetic drift rather than purging. "The researchers predict (1) reduced within-population inbreeding depression in small populations, which may be associated with an observed shift toward increased selfing rate, and (2) hybrid vigor in crosses between small populations." These findings inform several possible strategies for optimal sourcing and crossing of populations for restoration + aquaculture. Kelp have keystone ecosystem functions, but also represent a potential source of both biofuel + agricultural amendments.
March 1, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
siobhanschenk.bsky.social
A purple sea urchin munching on some Hedophyllum sessile for #PhycologyFriday . This was on Calvert Island.

#seaurchin #kelp 🦑
A purple sea urchin munching on some Hedophyllum sessile. The tide is out, so the urchin and kelp are out of the water.
February 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Varoon Supratya
claysteell.bsky.social
For #PhycologyFriday, here’s some Southern Sea Palm kelp (Eisenia arborea) and Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera sensu lato) from a swelly fun dive last December here in Huu-ay-aht territory, Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island
February 28, 2025 at 3:50 PM