Week seven and I named a chiton Devin (Figure 1). This week was the last series of low tides before I need to get my poster together. As a result, I have been spending my mornings in the tide pools collecting adults to spawn and my evenings taking pictures of larvae. I’m also doing experiments, organizing my data, focusing the narrative for my poster, and planning what final experiments I want to try. My last stint of experiments is going to focus on chitons’ ability to regrow their mysterious crystals. When I initially tired the boneless chicken water on my chiton larvae I found if left them in too long, the crystals would disappear or become noticeably reduced (in addition to calcium carbonate spicules). Originally an unfortunate byproduct, I want to take advantage of this phenomenon and demonstrate that chitons can grow these structures back. I observed this in two chitons when I first tried it but I want to demonstrate it more rigorously. This will provide direct evidence that chitons continually add to these structures. It will also allow me to see what conditions affect their ability to regrow them. Hopefully I can test the effect calcium has on their regrowth to compliment my other experiments, revealing if low calcium simply delays overall development or actually impacts crystal formation.
Outside of work I got to explore some of the greater Coos Bay area. Nick, Alondra, and I went out to the south fork of the Coos River. It was nice to get some sun, its most often cloudy here on the coast. The Southern Californian in me has needed some solar radiation! The river was quite beautiful and slippery. I certainly fell more times than I usually do in the intertidal, but it was worth it. We saw loads of crawdads and some newts, a change of pace from the usual chitons and urchins!
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AuthorI'm a rising fourth year at Villanova University in Pennsylvania from San Diego, California. I enjoy going tidepooling and making music. I'm looking forward to a great summer at OIMB! Archives
August 2021
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