Oceans CraigI mentioned a month back the passing of Janet Grieve - one of the initial generation of NZ ocean scientists who set the scene for all that followed... I put together an obituary and in doing so was deluged from people all around the world with anecdotes and love and gratitude - it was pretty amazing actually.
Jess HolzOk everything's going to shit, but I just screenprinted plankton in blacklight ink a la fluorescence microscopy and I'm super into it! Tried a phase contrast image too- it sorta worked. If you have any fluorescent images you'd like me to do feel free to reach out. #sciart #copepod #diatom
Iām loving this fluorescence view of a decomposing copepod covered in algae, captured at a workshop at MIT museum. Any other copepod lovers out there? #SciArt #microscopy #copepod
Warren Currie š¦ š¦Weekend #Plankton #Factoid š¦ š¦
In case you ever wondered why SpongeBob's Plankton has a single eye, this is because he is a copepod (specifically a Cyclopoid #copepod given his relatively short antennae). Most Copepoda have a single pigmented eyespot (often red), which is actually a tripartate (three cupped ocelli) nauplius eye. The actual function of this #eye isn't well understood, though likely related to movement and orientation.
Also, because his right antenna isn't bent, he is immature. š
Lodewijk van WalravenFinally built the #LEGO #copepod I designed in Studio! Especially like the look of the Ninjago swords and scythes for mouthparts and legs. #plankton #MOC
Weekend #Plankton #Factoid š¦ š¦
#Copepod #zooplankton are the most numerous metazoans on the planet, and some have evolved into fantastical forms. Take Calocalanus pavo, the beautiful "peacock copepod", which has amazingly plumed antenna and caudal rami. It is small, ~1mm long, and uses the plumes to slow its sinking for feeding in the upper #ocean. It is famous for being very prominent in Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur (1904) plate 54 #watercolour paintings of copepoda.
#science #art
Weekend #Plankton #Factoid š¦š¦
If you see a #copepod #zooplankton with a distinctly wonky bent antenna, it is likely a male. They use this antennule to grasp females during #mating to allow them to place a spermatophore (sperm packet) at the female's genital opening. Only the right antennule of adult male #calanoids is geniculate. Both antennules are modified on adult male #cyclopoids (and harpacticoids). Females lack modified antennae but have a genital pore or carry eggs. #Science #oceanography
If you see a #copepod #zooplankton with a distinctly wonky bent antenna, it is likely a male. They use this antennule to grasp females during #mating to allow them to place a spermatophore (sperm packet) at the female's genital opening. Only the right antennule of adult male #calanoids is geniculate. Both antennules are modified on adult male #cyclopoids (and harpacticoids). Females lack modified antennae but have a genital pore or carry eggs. #Science #oceanography
Weekend #Plankton #Factoid š¦š¦
Today: #zooplankton and #turbulence. While marine #copepod effects are documented, little work has been done on turbulence and #cladocerans, which dominate freshwater systems - and notoriously poor swimmers.
MSc student, Luc Goulet, focused on #vorticity (rotation), very relevant to lakes and rivers. Using rotating cylinders, he found speeds where it interferes with #Daphnia ability to orient and feed, so relevant to their ecology. #science
https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lno.12590
Weekend #Plankton #Factoid š¦š¦
This is the time of year in the northern hemisphere before the low productivity dark of winter sets in that some #copepod #zooplankton go into diapause. This resting state occurs in deep #lakes and #oceans, and is possible because of a fat transformation. Stored oil droplets turn to fatty wax esters under pressure which means they hang out at depth, no swimming required, and live off their #lipid stores until spring. #Seasonality
https://phys.org/news/2011-12-copepods-weight-belts.amp
This is the time of year in the northern hemisphere before the low productivity dark of winter sets in that some #copepod #zooplankton go into diapause. This resting state occurs in deep #lakes and #oceans, and is possible because of a fat transformation. Stored oil droplets turn to fatty wax esters under pressure which means they hang out at depth, no swimming required, and live off their #lipid stores until spring. #Seasonality
https://phys.org/news/2011-12-copepods-weight-belts.amp
Matt Sasaki