Award Abstract # 1433979
Functional Diversity and Performance of Ciliated Marine Invertebrate Larvae: Measuring and Modeling Larval Swimming, Feeding and Hydrodynamic Signaling

NSF Org: OCE
Division Of Ocean Sciences
Recipient: WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION
Initial Amendment Date: June 27, 2014
Latest Amendment Date: June 27, 2014
Award Number: 1433979
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Michael Sieracki
OCE
 Division Of Ocean Sciences
GEO
 Directorate For Geosciences
Start Date: October 1, 2014
End Date: September 30, 2017 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $282,606.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $282,606.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2014 = $282,606.00
History of Investigator:
  • Houshuo Jiang (Principal Investigator)
    hsjiang@whoi.edu
  • Kit Yu Karen Chan (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
266 WOODS HOLE RD
WOODS HOLE
MA  US  02543-1535
(508)289-3542
Sponsor Congressional District: 09
Primary Place of Performance: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
98 Water Street
Woods Hole
MA  US  02543-1053
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
09
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): GFKFBWG2TV98
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Primary Program Source: 01001415DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 0000
Program Element Code(s): 1650
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050

ABSTRACT

Many marine organisms, including mussels, oysters, and barnacles, have a planktonic (drifting) larval stage and a sedentary (less mobile) bottom-dwelling adult stage. The adults of these organisms release a large number of larvae into the water column, where the larvae develop and grow and often, disperse long distances before settling and changing into adult forms. Larval survival and transport in the water column and larval ability in finding suitable habitat for settlement shape the abundance and distribution of the adult population. All these factors are significantly influenced by the interactions between individual larva and its surrounding fluid. However, current knowledge of larval-fluid interactions, especially at the individual level, is scarce. This project will carry out state-of-the-art observational and modeling studies of larval-fluid interactions. This project provides hands-on training opportunities for undergraduate students. Findings from this highly interdisciplinary project will be incorporated to inquiry-based undergraduate curriculum material that will be taught and evaluated in classrooms and made publicly available through digital libraries.

Interactions between individual larva and its surrounding fluid significantly impact survival and transport in the water column. Examples of these interactions include: 1) generating currents for movement and particle capture, 2) reducing predation risk through minimizing the hydrodynamic signals, and 3) rapidly adjusting swimming patterns in response to fluid movements, such as near-bottom turbulence during settlement. Understanding these key larval-fluid interactions requires observations at fine spatial and temporal scales due to small larval size and rapid viscous decay. Although the overall morphology of larvae is highly diverse there are common shapes shared between taxonomic groups, such as the "armed morphology" of larval molluscs and echinoids whereby larvae use long ciliated extensions for feeding and swimming. It is unclear how morphology influences larval-fluid interactions. This project aims at filling in these knowledge gaps by applying high speed, high resolution micro Particle Image Velocimetry (microPIV) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to quantify and mechanistically examine larval-fluid interactions. This project addresses three groups of questions: (1) How do fine-scale larval-fluid interactions differ between ciliated larvae with similar overall morphology? What are the ecological consequences of these differences? (2) How rapidly can larvae vary their influences on surrounding fluid? (3) What are the limitations of microPIV as a way to observe freely swimming larvae at the relevant scale? To address these questions, a series of microPIV observations will be conducted on 3 pairs of related species that have armed larvae. The hypothesis is that despite similarity in overall shape, larval-fluid interactions differ between species and larval performance peaks at ambient condition that the larvae are found. Hypothesis testing will be achieved through comparing the larval-fluid interactions between these studied species through ontogeny and at different temperatures and viscosities. The obtained observational data will be compared against theoretical hydrodynamic models and CFD models to build a mechanistic understanding of how larvae move water around their bodies and the resulting signals.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Brad J. Gemmell, Houshuo Jiang and Edward J. Buskey "A tale of the ciliate tail: investigation into the adaptive significance of this sub-cellular structure" Proc. R. Soc. B , v.282 , 2015 , p.20150770 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.0770
Kakani Katija, Sean P. Colin, John H. Costello, and Houshuo Jiang "Ontogenetic propulsive transitions by Sarsia tubulosa medusae" Journal of Experimental Biology , v.218 , 2015 , p.2333 doi:10.1242/jeb.115832
Houshuo Jiang and Matthew D. Johnson "Jumping and overcoming diffusion limitation of nutrient uptake in the photosynthetic ciliate Mesodinium rubrum" Limnology and Oceanography , 2016 doi: 10.1002/lno.10432
Du Clos, K. and Jiang, H. "Overcoming hydrodynamic challenges in suspension feeding by juvenile Mya arenaria clams." Journal of the Royal Society Interface , v.15 , 2018 , p.20170755 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2017.0755

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

Many marine organisms have a planktonic larval stage in their life history, and their adults that often have limited mobility rely on their planktonic larvae for dispersal. It is fundamentally important to investigate the interaction between individual larva and its surrounding fluid, because such larva-fluid interaction significantly impacts larval survival and transport in the ocean. The major goal of this research is to quantify the fine-scale, both spatial and temporal, larva-fluid interaction by using a newly developed high-speed, micro-Particle Image Velocimetry (µPIV) technique. Such research is crucial for achieving a mechanistic understanding of larval morphology, behavior, and ability to perform key ecological functions, e.g., collecting particles, avoiding predators, and responding to immediate surrounding flow conditions. This understanding will, in turn, provide insights on the evolution of larval forms and behaviors, and inform factors that shape population dynamics of marine invertebrates.

In this project, we conducted extensive high-speed microscale video observations of the fine-scale behavior and measured the flow imposed by a larva swimming freely inside a relatively large water vessel (in contrast to using a microscope to observe larvae held inside a tiny well as done previously). We have obtained a large amount of video data that visualize and quantify the behavior and imposed flow of larvae of a variety of size, morphology, and behavior. We provided previously unknown information on how larvae actually swim, feed, and generate flow at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. We have used these data/information to shed light on several important research questions that cannot be addressed before: We characterized the size-dependent patterns in larval-fluid interaction by quantifying the trade-off between larval feeding/swimming performance and predation risk. We found the overall “tethering” mechanism by which a larva creates an efficient feeding current for suspension feeding. We also for the first time measured the inhalant and exhalent water currents generated by bottom-settled clam juveniles and revealed novel features that clam juveniles adapt to the challenges of suspension feeding at small scales. Our research has added significant new knowledge to marine larval ecology at the individual scales.

As to the broader impact of this project, three graduate students and a visiting scholar have participated in this project and received training in using the µPIV technique for their research. We also constructed a project website to host sample videos and share with the general public:

https://www2.whoi.edu/staff/hsjiang/research/larvae/


Last Modified: 01/26/2018
Modified by: Houshuo Jiang

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