No one ever told me north central Florida is so beautiful! #ichetuckneesprings

It's official! I'll be starting my lab at UF Department of Biology this January working on evolution of light-sensing systems and marine invertebrate biodiversity! 🪸🐙🦑🪱🐚🐌🦀

A beautiful, many-eyed Polyorchis sp. I caught this summer at Friday Harbor Labs. All those red dots around the bell are little eyes (also called ocelli)!

Feeding time! Nematostella vectensis (and all cnidarian) tentacles are covered in stinging cells called cnidocytes that harpoon and inject venom into their prey, in this case a drop of juvenile brine shrimp.

#nematostella #seaanemone #cnidocyte #cnidaria #marinebiology

Getting ready for teaching at Friday Harbor! Found an eyed bell jelly today 👀🪼

Congrats to Starla and Malin presenting on two projects on Nematostella in the lab at the UMN undergraduate research symposium! #nematostella #undergradresearch #marinebiology #visualecology #animalbehavior #opsins