Keats Conley, a PhD student at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, and 2014-15 Oregon Sea Grant Malouf Scholar, studies the feeding preferences of pelagic tunicates, animals that serve as a key link between minute, lower food-chain organisms, such as bacteria, and commercially important fishes.
It turns out that tunicates, whether stationary and anchored to rocks or mobile (such as the jellyfish-like salps), all use an ornate mucus mesh to feed on much-smaller creatures, including bacteria.
Check out the video Keats made to describe what she’s learned:
Learn more:
- Oregon Sea Grant Scholars – our fellowship and scholarship programs for graduate and undergraduate students studying marine science and policy
- Keats Conley’s Sea Grant Scholars profile
