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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
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
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
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
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
One of the few kelp species that can spread clonally through a rhizomatous holdfast
April 4, 2025 at 2:43 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
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
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
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Today for #phycologyfriday: a rather unusual bull kelp that popped up in a lab tumble culture

#bullkelp #nereocystis #kelp #seaweed #phycology #marinelife #intertidal #marinebiology #science #biology
A small bull kelp with a very unusual morphology. The stipe is wrinkled and twisted, while the blades arise from the side of the oblong pneumatocyst instead of the top
February 28, 2025 at 3:39 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
A new in progress #pottery project for #phycologyfriday: #Alaria marginata carved on a bowl

#kelp #seaweed #marineart #phycology #sculpture #carving #ceramics #clay
A dark red ceramic bowl with unfinished carvings of the kelp Alaria on the sides
February 21, 2025 at 3:42 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Lab grown bull kelp sporophytes with tiny rhizoids and the barest hint of a stipe for #phycologyfriday

#bullkelp #marinebiology #phycology #kelp #seaweed #algae #science #biology #marine #ocean
Microscope photo of a cluster of very young bull kelp. The kelps look like translucent elliptical blades with individual rectangular cells visible in a gridlike pattern. Transparent filaments radiate from the base of the young kelps.
February 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
My creative outlet is pottery, often inspired by seaweeds

#phycologyfriday #phycology #kelp #marinebiology #science #art #pottery #sculpture #seaweed #ceramics
Seaweed themed ceramics arranged on a grey steel table. From left to right: two mugs with handles formed in the shape of bull kelp, a sculpture of the kelp Eisenia arborea, a pitcher with a bull kelp handle, and a mug with a Calliarthron (coralline red alga) handle
January 31, 2025 at 3:48 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Today for #phycologyfriday: intertidal bull kelp with extremely short stipes. Spotted at Ogden Point, Victoria BC

#nereocystis #bullkelp #phycology #kelp #seaweed #algae #marinebiology #intertidal #science #victoriaBC #britishcolumbia #fieldwork
January 24, 2025 at 3:51 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Today for #phycologyfriday: Dictyoneurum californicum at Sombrio Beach on Vancouver Island. This is a rare and patchily distributed species in Canada, being mostly found in California #dictyoneurum #phycology #marinebiology #seaweed #algae #botany #kelp #science #intertidal #ocean
Dictyoneurum californicum washed up on a cobble beach. The straplike brown blades are in large clumps on the rocks. The blades are covered in fine longotudinal ridges that merge together to form a meshlike pattern
January 17, 2025 at 4:50 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
An intertidal bed of the kelp Eisenia arborea near Big Beach, Ucluelet. This species has a stronghold in California and scattered populations in British Columbia. It is interesting to speculate how this has arisen. #phycologyfriday #eisenia #eiseniaarborea #kelp #phycology #seaweed #marinebiology
Several Eisenia kelps rise out of the water in a rocky tidepool, surrounded by Phyllospadix surfgrasses and turfy red algae
January 10, 2025 at 4:11 PM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
Today for #phycologyfriday: the southern bull "kelp" Durvillaea antarctica, spotted west of Auckland, NZ

#durvillaea #durvillaeaantarctica #phycology
December 20, 2024 at 11:03 AM
varoon-supratya.bsky.social
All the bull kelp in these artsy presses were entirely lab-grown grown in closed-system recirculating culture doi.org/10.1111/jpy....
#phycologyfriday #phycology #nereocystis #nereocystisluetkeana #bullkelp #aquaculture #mariculture
December 6, 2024 at 4:51 PM