Nautilus and Allonautilus cephalopods and their extinct ancestors have been drifting through of the ocean for more than 500 million years. Researchers have spent the last 40 years trying to understand how these mysterious “living fossils” thrive in areas with limited nutrients. published in Scientific Reports, a UW-led team documented new habits and habitats for current Nautilus and Allonautilus species. These creatures appear to live in deeper water than their extinct cousins did, and the younger ones live twice as deep as the fully mature adults. Nautilus and Allonautilus species scavenge their food and never stop moving. While a few species migrate hundreds of meters down at dawn and then back up at dusk every day, the team found that most species aren’t quite as intrepid. The researchers also describe a new population of Allonautilus in waters off the island , one of several populations thriving due to hunting restrictions inspired in part by research efforts from this team.

For more information, contact senior author , UW professor of both biology and Earth and space sciences, at argo@uw.edu.

Other UW co-authors are , and . A full list of co-authors and funding is included

Green clay tennis courts become carbon negative after 10 years

The United States has around a quarter of a million tennis courts, 40,000 of which are helping mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Green clay tennis courts, an alternative to traditional hard courts and the red clay courts popular in Europe, are constructed with a type of rock that reacts with carbon dioxide and water to sequester carbon as a stable dissolved salt. In , UW researchers show that in the U.S., green clay courts remove 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year and 80% of green clay courts make up for construction emissions within 10 years. Moving forward, the researchers hope to experiment with other materials that also remove carbon dioxide without compromising performance for players.

For more information contact lead author , UW assistant professor of oceanography, at fjpavia@uw.edu.

A full list of co-authors and funding is available .

Temperature dynamics, not just extremes, impact heat tolerance in mussels

Intertidal mussels, forming bumpy layers on shoreline rocks, withstand significant temperature swings as the tide ebbs and flows. These creatures live in one of the most thermally variable environments on Earth, but a new study shows that the rate, timing and duration of heating and cooling impact their metabolic rate, a proxy for overall health. At the UW鈥檚 , researchers exposed mussels to temperature regimens with equal highs and lows but different patterns of change. Even when the average temperature for a set period was the same, the mussels鈥� response was distinct. These results, , show that predicting how marine organisms respond to climate change means considering how temperature changes over time, not just how warm it gets.

For more information, contact lead author , assistant professor of biology at the College of the Holy Cross and a mentor for the UW Friday Harbor Laboratories , at mnishizaki@holycross.edu.

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is available .

When algae stop growing, bacteria start swarming

Tiny geometric algae, called , produce nearly a quarter of the world鈥檚 organic matter by photosynthesis. In the microscopic marine universe, diatoms coexist with both harmful and helpful bacteria. A new study, , describes how a recently identified species of marine bacteria targets diatoms based on growth phase and nutrient availability. Growing diatoms can resist bacterial attacks, but when growth ceases, the bacteria modulate their gene expression patterns to become aggressive 鈥� first swimming and releasing compounds that damage the diatom and then clustering around them to feed. Bacteria can also overcome the diatom鈥檚 defenses in nutrient-rich environments. These findings highlight the dynamic relationship between bacteria and algae in the lab. Moving forward, researchers will explore what, if anything, changes in a more complex environment.

For more information, contact lead author , UW postdoctoral fellow in oceanography, at dawiener5@gmail.com.

Other UW co-authors are and . A full list of co-authors and funding is available .

When it comes to teeth, vertebrates have a lot in common. No matter the shape, size or sharpness, teeth share genetic origins, physical characteristics and, of course, a home in the jaw.

New findings call into question one of these core assumptions. Spotted ratfish, a shark-like species native to the northeastern Pacific Ocean, have rows of teeth on top of their heads, lining a cartilaginous appendage called the tenaculum that loosely resembles nose.

Researchers have long speculated about the origins of teeth 鈥� structures so vital to survival and evolution that most of us rarely stop to think about them. However, the debate centers on the evolution of oral teeth, without considering the possibility that teeth could be elsewhere, too. With the discovery of teeth on the tenaculum, researchers wonder where else they might be growing, and how this could alter conceptions of dental history.

鈥淭his insane, absolutely spectacular feature flips the long-standing assumption in evolutionary biology that teeth are strictly oral structures,鈥� said , a UW postdoctoral researcher at the 天美影视传媒鈥檚 Friday Harbor Labs. 鈥淭he tenaculum is a developmental relic, not a bizarre one-off, and the first clear example of a toothed structure outside the jaw.鈥�

in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Sept. 4.

Spotted ratfish are one of the most abundant fish species in Puget Sound. They belong to a category of cartilaginous fish called chimaeras that split from sharks on the evolutionary tree millions of years ago. Measuring about 2 feet long, spotted ratfish are named for the long slender tails that account for half of their length. Only adult males have a tenaculum adorning their foreheads. At rest, it looks like a small white peanut between their eyes. When erect, the tenaculum is hooked and barbed with teeth.

Males flare their tenaculum to intimidate competitors. While mating, they grip females by the pectoral fin to avoid drifting apart.

鈥淪harks don鈥檛 have arms, but they need to mate underwater,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淪o, a lot of them have developed grasping structures to connect themselves to a mate during reproduction.鈥�

Spotted ratfish also have pelvic claspers that they use for this purpose.

Many common sharks, rays and skates are covered in tooth-like structures called denticles. Aside from the denticles on their pelvic claspers, spotted ratfish are 鈥減retty naked,鈥� Cohen said, leading the researchers to wonder: Where did all their denticles go?

Before this study, they had two theories. One suggested that the 鈥渢eeth鈥� on their tenaculum were denticles, a vestige of the past. The other proposed that they were true teeth, like those present in the oral cavity.

鈥淩atfish have really weird faces,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淲hen they are small, they kind of look like an elephant squished into a little yolk sack.鈥�

The cells that form the oral region are spread farther afield, making it plausible that at some point, a clump of tooth-forming cells might have migrated onto the head and stuck.

To test these theories, the researchers caught and analyzed hundreds of fish, using micro-CT scans and tissue samples to document tenaculum development. While sharks can be quite hard to study, spotted ratfish abound in Puget Sound. They frequent the shallows surrounding , the UW research facility located on San Juan Island. They also compared the modern ratfish to ancestral fossils.

The scans showed that both male and female ratfish begin making a tenaculum early on. In males, it grows from a small cluster of cells into a little white pimple that elongates between the eyes. It attaches to muscles controlling the jaw and finally, erupts through the surface of the skin and sprouts teeth. In females it never materializes 鈥� or mineralizes 鈥� but evidence of an early structure remains.

The new teeth are rooted in a band of tissue called the dental lamina that is present in the jaw but has never been documented elsewhere. 鈥淲hen we saw the dental lamina for the first time, our eyes popped,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淚t was so exciting to see this crucial structure outside the jaw.鈥�

In humans, the dental lamina disintegrates after we grow our adult teeth, but many vertebrates retain the ability to replace their teeth. Sharks, for example, have 鈥渁 constant conveyor belt鈥� of new teeth, Cohen said. Dermal denticles, including the ones on the spotted ratfish鈥檚 pelvic claspers, do not have a dental lamina. Identifying this structure was compelling evidence that the teeth on the tenaculum really are teeth and not leftover denticles. Genetic evidence also backed this conclusion.

鈥淰ertebrate teeth are extremely well united by a genetic toolbox,鈥� Cohen said.

Tissue samples revealed that the genes associated with teeth across vertebrates were expressed in the tenaculum, but not the denticles. In the fossil record, they also observed evidence of teeth on the tenaculum of related species.

鈥淲e have a combination of experimental data with paleontological evidence to show how these fishes coopted a preexisting program for manufacturing teeth to make a new device that is essential for reproduction,鈥� said , a professor and the chair of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago and a co-author of the paper.

The modern adult male spotted ratfish can grow seven or eight rows of hooked teeth on its tenaculum. These teeth retract and flex more than the average canine, enabling the fish to latch onto a mate while swimming. The size of the tenaculum also appears to be unrelated to the length of the fish. Its development aligns instead with the pelvic claspers, suggesting that the migrant tissue is now regulated by other networks.

鈥淚f these strange chimaeras are sticking teeth on the front of their head, it makes you think about the dynamism of tooth development more generally,鈥� said , a professor of biology at the University of Florida and the study鈥檚 senior author.

Sharks often serve as the model for studying teeth and development because they have so many oral teeth and are covered in denticles. But, Cohen added, sharks possess just a sliver of the dental diversity captured by history. 鈥淐himeras offer a rare glimpse into the past,鈥� she said 鈥淚 think the more we look at spiky structures on vertebrates, the more teeth we are going to find outside the jaw.鈥�

This research was funded by National Science Foundation, the Save Our Seas Foundation, and internal endowments at Friday Harbor Labs supporting innovative early-career research.

For more information, contact Karly Cohen at kecohen@uw.edu.

Sunflower sea stars are the largest sea stars in the world: They have up to 24 arms and grow to the size of a bicycle tire.

Starting in 2013, these creatures and other sea star species along the west coast of North America died in epidemic proportions. The stars had harrowing symptoms: Their arms contorted before falling off completely. Over the past decade, sea star wasting disease has killed billions of sea stars in up to 20 species by effectively “melting” their tissues.

The disease has wiped out more than 90% of the once-common sunflower sea stars, most critically in the continental U.S., landing them on the International Union for Conservation of Nature鈥檚 . The loss of sunflower sea stars, which support kelp forests by feeding on kelp-eating sea urchins, has had widespread and lasting effects on coastal ecosystems.

Until now, no one knew what caused sea star wasting disease. But on Aug. 4, an international research effort including scientists from the 天美影视传媒 has finally revealed the cause: a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida. Vibrio is a genus of bacteria that has devastated coral and shellfish as well as humans (for example, Vibrio cholerae is the pathogen that causes cholera).

The researchers in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

“This is the discovery of the decade for me,” said co-author , a UW affiliate professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Friday Harbor Laboratories. “We have studied both the cause and the impacts of this disease for the entire epidemic. What’s crazy is that the answer was just sitting right there in front of us. This Vibrio is a sneaky critter because it doesn’t show up on histology like other bacteria do.”

“From initial studies, we thought the culprit was a virus,” Harvell continued. “So it was a surprise to find the pathogen in a more common group of bacteria.”

The long-awaited result showing V. pectenicida strain FHCF-3 as the causative agent comes after a four-year research process. Scientists explored many possible pathogens, including viruses. At first, the researchers looked in sunflower sea star tissues before they homed in on the high levels of V. pectenicida in sick sea star 鈥渂lood,鈥� or coelomic fluid.

“When we looked at the coelomic fluid between exposed and healthy sea stars, there was basically one thing different: Vibrio,” said senior author , a marine disease ecologist at the Hakai Institute and the University of British Columbia. “We all had chills. We thought, ‘That鈥檚 it. We have it. That鈥檚 what causes wasting.'”

Harvell attributes the team’s success to:

• Having the right facilities at the U.S. Geological Service with proper quarantine and high-quality water flow
• A talented research team that had pathology, virology and bacteriology experience
• Having access to a source of the right test animals, including sunflower sea stars raised in captivity by co-author , UW senior research scientist at Friday Harbor Laboratories.

“I observed and collected health data on nearly every single sea star twice a day for the majority of experiments for all four summers,” said co-author , a UW doctoral student in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. “I have loved sea stars and have been fascinated by diseases since childhood. To get to participate so actively in research that combines both of these interests has been a dream come true. I’m excited about getting to work on a project with such consequential findings for the conservation of these important sea stars: to find both the cause of sea star wasting disease, and to better understand their immune response.”

To confirm that V. pectenicida was the culprit, co-author , a research scientist at UBC, created pure cultures of V. pectenicida from the coelomic fluid of sick sea stars. The team then injected the cultured pathogen into healthy sea stars, which developed symptoms of sea star wasting disease 鈥� the final proof.

“When we lose billions of sea stars, that really shifts the ecological dynamics,” said lead author , an evolutionary ecologist at the Hakai Institute and UBC. “In the absence of sunflower stars, sea urchin populations increase, which means the loss of kelp forests, and that has broad implications for all the other marine species and humans that rely on them. So losing a sea star goes far beyond the loss of that single species.”

Now that scientists have identified the pathogen behind sea star wasting disease, they can look into the drivers of disease and potential hallmarks of resilience. Researchers are particularly interested in studying the link between sea star wasting disease and rising ocean temperatures. The effects of the disease seem to be stronger in warmer water, and other species of Vibrio are also known to proliferate in warm water, Gehman said.

Researchers and project partners hope the discovery will help guide management and and the ecosystems affected by their decline.

“It’s just heartbreaking to watch them die,” Harvell said. “Sunflower sea stars are enchanting creatures and they’re quite interactive. At feeding time, they will come toward you. If you throw clams to the stars, they can catch them. It’s so gratifying to finally have an answer.”

Additional co-authors on this paper are Katherine M. Davis and Jan F. Finke at UBC and the Hakai Institute; Paul K. Hershberger at the U.S. Geological Survey; Andrew McCracken at the University of Vermont; Colleen T. E. Kellogg, Rute B. G. Clemente-Carvalho and Carolyn Prentice at the Hakai Institute; and Kevin X. Zhong and Curtis A. Suttle at UBC. The research was supported by The Nature Conservancy of California, the Tula Foundation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund Infrastructure award, the University of British Columbia, the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Threats Research Program, Ecosystems Mission Area and the Quantitative and Evolutionary STEM Traineeship.

For more information, contact Harvell at cdh5@cornell.edu.

Adapted from a release from The Hakai Institute.

Natural history museums have entered a new stage of discovery and accessibility 鈥� one where scientists around the globe and curious folks at home to study, learn or just be amazed. This new era follows the completion of , or oVert, a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online.

The team behind this endeavor, which includes scientists at the 天美影视传媒 and its , published a March 6 in the journal BioScience, offering a glimpse of how the data can be used to ask new questions and spur the development of innovative technology.

Natural history museums have become valuable resources for the public, with exhibits highlighting biodiversity, evolution and conservation. But most museum collections remain behind closed doors, accessible only to scientists who must either travel to see them or ask that a small number of specimens be transported on loan. The oVert team wanted to change that.

鈥淚f you require someone to get on a plane and travel to you to collaborate, that鈥檚 prohibitive in a lot of ways,鈥� said , head of the oVert project and curator of herpetology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. 鈥淣ow we have scientists, teachers, students and artists around the world using these data remotely.鈥�

Between 2017 and 2023, oVert project members took CT scans of more than 13,000 vertebrate specimens. For the project, a team at the UW鈥檚 scanned more than 7,200 specimens 鈥� mostly fish, but also reptiles, amphibians and mammals 鈥� using the facility鈥檚 micro-CT scanner. Many of the specimens scanned at Friday Harbor came from the Burke Museum鈥檚 permanent collection. The UW team also trained more than 150 researchers, students and educators from around the world on how to CT scan specimens and analyze them for study purposes.

Since CT scanners use high-energy X-rays to peer past an organism鈥檚 exterior and view the dense bone structure beneath, most oVert reconstructions are skeletons. But, for some specimens, researchers took extra steps to visualize soft tissues, such as skin, muscle and other organs. The models give an intimate look at internal portions of a specimen that could previously only be observed through destructive dissection and tissue sampling.

鈥渙Vert is a way of reducing the wear and tear on samples while also increasing access, and it鈥檚 the next logical step in the mission of museum collections,鈥� said Blackburn.

The project initially sought to scan only specimens preserved in ethyl alcohol, which represent the bulk of fish, reptile and amphibian collections. But researchers were reluctant to leave out larger specimens and came up with creative solutions. Project members at the Idaho Museum of Natural History, for example, painstakingly took apart a humpback whale skeleton to produce 3D models of each individual bone and digitally reassemble the whole skeleton. To scan mummified tortoises from the California Academy of Sciences鈥� collection, researchers had to pose them on top of inflatable swimming tubes.

Scientists have already used data from the project to gain new insights. One study of more than , for example, revealed that frogs have lost and regained teeth more than 20 times throughout their evolutionary history. A separate study concluded that , a massive dinosaur that was larger than Tyrannosaurus rex and thought to be aquatic, would have actually been a poor swimmer, and thus likely stayed on land. UW鈥檚 contributions to oVert have to date resulted in more than 40 peer-reviewed publications.

鈥淚t is so exciting to deposit the skeletal data for a new species in a repository where any scientist can access it,鈥� said oVert team member , a UW professor of biology and of aquatic and fishery sciences, who is based at Friday Harbor Labs.

Artists have used the 3D models to create realistic animal replicas, and photographs of oVert specimens have been displayed in museums, including the Burke. Specimens have been incorporated into virtual reality headsets that give users the chance to interact with and manipulate them.

oVert models have also been used by educators in both K-12 and university settings, including in UW courses taken by hundreds of students.

鈥淒igital 3D models of fish skeletons were incredibly useful during the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote labs meant UW students couldn鈥檛 access physical specimens,鈥� said oVert team member , a UW associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences and curator of fishes at the Burke Museum. 鈥淎nd now, we continue to use them as invaluable educational tools even though we鈥檙e back in the lab in person.鈥�

The biggest challenge will be creating tools that are sophisticated enough to analyze the data, researchers say. This is the largest number of 3D natural history specimens released for public use, and it will take further developments in machine learning and supercomputing to use them to their full potential.

鈥淚n fact, the UW has a collaborative NSF grant to do just that 鈥� develop free, open-source software to look at all these new data and quantify their shapes,鈥� said Summers.

Katherine Maslenikov, collections manager of fishes at the Burke, is also a member of the oVert team and a co-author on the new paper. oVert was funded by the National Science Foundation.

For more information, contact Tornabene at ltorna1@uw.edu and Summers at fishguy@uw.edu.

Adapted from a by the University of Florida.

At the , recovery is afoot. Scientists at this 天美影视传媒 facility in the San Juan Islands are working to help sunflower stars 鈥� a type of sea star 鈥� grow and thrive once again after their populations along the West Coast were devastated by a mysterious disease.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e gone in a lot of places, and a lot of what we鈥檙e doing here is testing out ideas for reintroduction,鈥� said , a researcher at the lab.听

In summer 2013, sea star wasting syndrome more than a dozen sea star species up and down the West Coast of North America. Since sea stars 鈥� a group of invertebrates that are also called starfish 鈥� are essential predators, their decimation upended marine ecosystems from Mexico to Alaska.听

鈥淚n regions where these important predators are gone, we鈥檝e seen explosions of species they would normally prey upon, like sea urchins,鈥� said Hodin. 鈥淭hat disrupts kelp forests, turning them into what we call 鈥榰rchin barrens.鈥� It adversely affected food webs all along the West Coast.鈥�听

The outbreak of this syndrome, the cause of which is still unknown, has led scientists like Hodin to study how to help sea stars get a leg up 鈥� or more accurately, an arm up. In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Hodin and his team have pioneered methods to rear sunflower stars in the laboratory. Sunflower stars were particularly hard hit by sea star wasting syndrome, and they play an especially critical role as predators in marine ecosystems. Hodin鈥檚 team wanted to learn whether lab-raised stars could be introduced successfully into the wild to boost their numbers.听听

“The laboratory studies are also giving us insight into the ecology and behavior of sunflower stars across their whole life history, including the young stages when they are too small to easily find in the wild 鈥� even when populations were strong,鈥� said Hodin. 鈥淭his approach is helping us learn what we need to know to be able to help bring the species back from the brink.鈥�听

Last year, the research team 鈥� led by Scientific Diver Joey Ullmann 鈥� 鈥減lanted鈥� laboratory-grown sunflower stars in cages at three sites in the San Juan Islands to ascertain how well they would grow and thrive during more than two months in the wild. The team discovered that lab-reared stars did well, and Hodin hopes that these efforts will pave a way toward the restoration of healthy kelp forests.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 all pointing in pretty positive signs that this was successful,鈥� said Hodin.听

It鈥檚 a promising start, with more to come.听

For more information, contact Hodin at hodin@uw.edu.听听

It’s hard to forget the excruciating heat that blanketed the Pacific Northwest in late June 2021. Temperatures in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia soared to well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with Seattle of 108 degrees on June 28.

During the heat wave, also called a heat dome, scientists and community members alike noticed a disturbing on some beaches in Washington and British Columbia, both in the Salish Sea and along the outer coast. The observers quickly realized they were living through an unprecedented event and they organized to document the shellfish die-offs as they happened in real time.

Now, a team led by the 天美影视传媒 has compiled and analyzed hundreds of these field observations to produce the first comprehensive report of the impacts of the 2021 heat wave on shellfish. The researchers found that many shellfish were victims of a 鈥減erfect storm鈥� of factors that contributed to widespread death: The lowest low tides of the year occurred during the year鈥檚 hottest days 鈥� and at the warmest times of day. The were published online June 20 in the journal Ecology.

“You really couldn鈥檛 have come up with a worse scenario for intertidal organisms,鈥� said lead author , a research scientist at UW Friday Harbor Laboratories. 鈥淭his analysis has given us a really good general picture of how shellfish were impacted by the heat wave, but we know this isn鈥檛 even the full story.”

The research team leveraged existing collaborations across tribes, state and federal agencies, academia and nonprofits. They devised a simple survey and five-point rating system (1 = much worse than normal to 5 = much better than normal) and asked participants to provide ratings based on their knowledge of a species in that location. In total, they gathered 203 observations from 108 unique locations, from central British Columbia down to Willapa Bay, Washington.

“The strength of this study and what it really highlights is the value of local knowledge and also the importance of understanding natural history,” said co-author , a UW associate teaching professor in environmental studies and aquatic and fishery sciences. “This is the first step and a snapshot, if you will, of what shellfish experienced on the beaches during the heat wave.”

The researchers found that each species鈥� ecology contributed to its general success or failure to survive the extreme heat. For example, some shellfish that naturally burrow deep beneath the surface, like butter clams, usually fared better than ones that typically ride out low tide just below the sand鈥檚 surface, such as cockles.

They also found that location mattered. Shellfish on the outer coast experienced low tide about four hours earlier than shellfish on inland beaches. For inland shellfish, low tide 鈥� or when the most shellfish were exposed 鈥� hit around solar noon, when the sun was directly overhead.

Additionally, air temperatures were much higher at inland sites compared to the outer coast, causing more stress on inland populations. For example, California mussels, found almost exclusively on the outer coast, mostly survived the heat while bay mussels, found in more inner coastal sites, were more likely to die from heat exposure. More water movement and wave action on the outer coast also likely helped lessen the impacts of the heat on shellfish along those beaches.

鈥淭he timing of low tide helps determine when and where organisms may be exposed to heat stress and can structure behavior and distribution. In this case, organisms at locations that are already exposed to air at the hottest time of day were very unlucky that temperatures soared so high,鈥� said co-author Hilary Hayford, habitat research director at Puget Sound Restoration Fund.

Many shellfish don鈥檛 tend to move much on any given beach, so where they naturally live in the intertidal zone also contributed to their success or failure, the researchers found. For example, acorn barnacles that live higher on the shore generally were more impacted than clams and oysters that are lower on the beach and more likely to remain under water.

“Although this event had negative effects on marine life, there is hope that can be found in this work. Not all locations and species were affected equally, offering clues to pathways to resiliency in the future,” said co-author Annie Raymond, a shellfish biologist with Jamestown S鈥橩lallam Tribe.

Perhaps most surprisingly, the researchers noticed interesting patterns in survival rates among shellfish on the same beach. In some locations, shellfish in the path of freshwater runoff on one section of beach survived, while others just a few miles away perished. If a tree hung over part of a beach and shaded the sand, those shellfish generally made it while others didn鈥檛. Co-author , senior shellfish biologist with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, remembers seeing those patterns while walking the beaches of Skagit Bay and, in some locations, being surrounded by dead cockles in every direction.

“It was pretty unsettling, and I鈥檝e never seen anything like it,” Barber said. She remembers exchanging emails with colleagues from around the region as they noticed similar mass die-offs on their local beaches, then realizing that they urgently needed to coordinate and document what was happening.

“This effort was a beautiful demonstration of how collaborators can come together with one common cause 鈥� which in our case was trying to understand what happened to these shellfish,” Barber said.

Because the heat wave occurred during the time frame when many shellfish are reproducing, the mass die-offs could impact those populations for at least several years, highlighting the need for long-term monitoring, the researchers said. And as climate change continues to produce more frequent extreme heat events, shellfish deaths like those of last summer may become more of a common reality.

“The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community is proud to be a leader in this important scientific research that assessed in real-time the devastating impacts to our shellfish resources from the unprecedented heat dome last summer. Shellfish are a priority first food that our tribal community relies on for spiritual and subsistence nourishment. Last summer鈥檚 extreme weather event reinforced to us that we must act faster to ensure climate resiliency for our community鈥檚 long-term health and well-being,” said Swinomish Tribal Chairman Steve Edwards.

“Once the effects of the heat wave started to become apparent, the collaboration that emerged was amazing as managers and scientists worked quickly to put together a rapid response to capture information,” said co-author Camille Speck, Puget Sound intertidal bivalve manager for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We still have so much to learn about the effects of the heat wave on Salish Sea marine ecosystems, and more work to do as managers to prepare for the next one and develop informed responses. These conversations are happening now, and it is our hope that we will be better prepared for whatever comes next.”

Other co-authors are Megan Dethier of the UW; Teri King of UW-based Washington Sea Grant; Christopher Harley of University of British Columbia; Blair Paul of Skokomish Indian Tribe; and Elizabeth Tobin of Jamestown S鈥橩lallam Tribe. More than two dozen individuals contributed data to this project.

This analysis was funded by Washington Sea Grant with data contributions from tribes, state and federal agencies, academic institutions and nonprofits.

For more information, contact:

• Wendel Raymond, 天美影视传媒 and lead author: wraymond@uw.edu
• Sean McDonald, 天美影视传媒: psean@uw.edu
• Julie Barber, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community: jbarber@swinomish.nsn.us
• Camille Speck, WDFW (contact Ben Anderson, communications manager): Benjamin.Anderson@dfw.wa.gov
• Teri King, Washington Sea Grant: guatemal@uw.edu

Four faculty members at the 天美影视传媒 have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. The new members from the UW are:

• , professor and chair of physiology and biophysics
• , professor of microbiology
• Dr. , professor of genome sciences
• James Truman, professor emeritus of biology

They are among 120 new members and 30 international members to the National Academy of Sciences this year. Election 鈥渞ecognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and 鈥� with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine 鈥� provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations,鈥� according to an May 3 by the academy.

is noted for her research on the neural mechanisms behind learning and remembering. She studies how a system of structures in the brain, including the hippocampus and its surrounding cortical regions, set up new memories and how this system functions during memory retrieval. These structures are the first to be affected in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. Lesions within these structures are associated with profound memory deficits. Her work may help improve the understanding of what foreshadows the onset Alzheimer鈥檚 and other dementias. She has a particular interest in how the brain maps surroundings, because getting lost in familiar locations is a common early symptom of Alzheimer鈥檚. Buffalo earned her doctoral degree at the University of California, San Diego and did postdoctoral training in neuropsychology at the National Institute of Mental Health. She received the 2011 Troland Research Award for her innovative studies from the National Academy of Sciences.

is known for his research on how bacteria interact with each other in the environment and in our bodies. Much of his work focuses on the battles that occur within communities of bacteria. He examines the arsenals they deploy to attack each other and defend themselves. Among his areas of study are antibacterial toxins that disable target cells in a variety of ways, secretion systems that mediate antagonism between bacteria, and the toxins that virulent bacteria secrete to overcome host defense strategies. His laboratory also studies the densely populated mammalian gut microbiome, where conflict rages among microbes as bacteria compete for resources and struggle to survive. His lab is hoping to harness the antimicrobial tactics of bacteria to develop new therapies for infections and other purposes. Mougous earned his doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a researcher at the UW Medicine Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine. In 2021, he received the National Institute of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology for his pioneering studies in microbiology.

Dr. 鈥檚 research group has pioneered a variety of genome sequencing and analysis methods, including exome sequencing and its earliest applications to gene discovery for Mendelian disorders and autism; cell-free DNA diagnostics for cancer and reproductive medicine; massively parallel reporter assays; saturation genome editing; whole organism lineage tracing; and massively parallel molecular profiling of single cells. He has received numerous awards, including the 2012 Curt Stern Award from the American Society of Human Genetics, a 2013 National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award and the 2019 Richard Lounsbery Award from the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Shendure has been an advisor to the NIH Director, the U.S. Precision Medicine Initiative, the National Human Genome Research Institute, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative and the Allen Institutes for Cell Science and Immunology. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in 2007 from Harvard Medical School, where he trained with geneticist and molecular biologist George Church on advancing DNA sequencing techniques. He is currently an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, director of the Allen Discovery Center for Cell Lineage Tracing and scientific director of the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine.

Truman鈥檚 studies have focused on the genes, hormones and neural architecture underlying insect development and evolution. Early in his career, he identified the key hormone in moths that induces molting, as well as the brain-based circadian rhythms that exert overall control over this process. He later studied regulation of molting in the fruit fly and genes that control metamorphosis in moths. Truman earned a doctoral degree from Harvard University in 1970, where he continued as a Harvard Junior Fellow until joining the UW faculty in 1973. He became a full professor in 1978. He retired from the UW in 2007 and became a Group Leader at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Janelia Research Campus, where he studied nervous system metamorphosis in fruit flies. In 2016, Truman returned to the UW as a professor emeritus, and today continues to study the evolution and development of insects and crustaceans at the UW鈥檚 Friday Harbor Laboratories. In 1970, he received the American Association for the Advancement of Science鈥檚 Newcomb Cleveland Research Prize and was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1986. Truman was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.

With this year鈥檚 addition, the National Academy of Sciences now has 2,512 active members and 517 nonvoting international members, who hold citizenship outside of the U.S.

The UW鈥檚 new AAAS Fellows are:

, a professor of biology and resident scientist at the UW鈥檚 , is honored for her research contributions in biomechanics and ecophysiology, as well as efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in science. Her research has shown how marine life in near-shore ecosystems, especially invertebrates and seaweeds, respond to both short-term fluctuations in their environment and long-term shifts due to climate change. Carrington鈥檚 research has illuminated the many ways that expected shifts in oceans due to climate change 鈥� including heat waves and increases in dissolved CO2 鈥� will negatively impact shellfish, algae and other organisms in coastal ecosystems and aquaculture. Her investigations of the biomaterials that mussels use to adhere to underwater surfaces have also aided the design of wet adhesives and antifouling surfaces for biomedical and maritime applications. A member of the UW faculty since 2005, Carrington also served as a program director in the National Science Foundation鈥檚 Directorate for Biological Sciences from 2016 to 2019.

Gabriela Chavarria, the executive director of the Burke Museum, is honored for her work on ecosystem sustainability, as well as leadership in education and conservation programs. Chavarria is an expert on native bees. She studies tropical bumblebees, and has long advocated for conservation of native pollinators. Chavarria was also trained as wood anatomist, and has helped to combat illegal traffic of hardwoods. An interest in conservation and policy led Chavarria to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a science adviser to the director, and later became a senior science adviser and head of forensic science at the agency鈥檚 wildlife forensic laboratory in Ashland, Oregon. Since 2018, she has served as Chief Curator and Vice President of the Science Division at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. In announcing Chavarria as the next executive director of the Burke Museum last month, Dianne Harris, Dean of Arts and Sciences at the UW, said: 鈥淐havarria鈥檚 experience as a museum administrator, scholar and visionary leader in the scientific community uniquely positions her to lead the Burke in its exciting next chapter.鈥� That chapter commences March 1.

, a professor of chemistry, was selected for her studies of a large class of enzymes that promote biochemical reactions in living cells for functions such as suppressing tumor growth, removing toxic compounds and synthesizing antibiotics. Kovacs鈥� research focuses on how the bonds between atoms in these enzymes shift as they catalyze reactions, revealing details of the underlying mechanism that these key cellular players use to carry out their functions. She is also studying how oxygen atoms form bonds with one another 鈥� a process that occurs naturally during photosynthesis, but details of which are poorly understood. Elucidating this mechanism could help the green energy industry develop efficient fuel-storage technologies. Kovacs joined the UW faculty in 1988 and has previously chaired the American Chemical Society鈥檚 Division of Inorganic Chemistry.

, a professor emeritus in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, is recognized for his advocacy and inclusion efforts for people with disabilities in computer science and related fields. Trained in mathematics, Ladner spent much of his career researching fundamental issues in computer science 鈥� including optimization, computational complexity and distributed computing. He also co-founded what is now the Theory of Computation Group at the Allen School. In the latter half of his career, Ladner worked largely on accessibility in computer science. These endeavors included development of numerous tools to perform specific tasks, for example: translating textbook figures into formats accessible to persons with disabilities, or allowing people to communicate via cell phones using American Sign Language. Among numerous honors, Ladner was a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fulbright Scholar, an Association for Computing Machinery Fellow and an IEEE Fellow. He joined the UW faculty in 1971 and retired as a professor emeritus in 2017.

, a professor of chemistry, is honored for developing new techniques and tools in chemistry, particularly novel algorithms and methods for electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Stoll uses this unique form of spectroscopy 鈥� which can explore the microscopic details and fast dynamics of chemical compounds that have unpaired electrons 鈥� to measure distances as small as a few nanometers, which is roughly 1/5000th the diameter of the thinnest human hair. Stoll applies this to study the structure of cellular proteins and discern the conformational changes that they undergo while performing their functions, such as catalyzing reactions or regulating heartbeat. These fundamental insights broaden our understanding of the human body and how it works. Stoll joined the UW faculty in 2011.

Contrary to what popular media portrays, we actually don鈥檛 know much about what sharks eat. Even less is known about how they digest their food, and the role they play in the larger ocean ecosystem.

For more than a century, researchers have relied on flat sketches of sharks鈥� digestive systems to discern how they function 鈥� and how what they eat and excrete impacts other species in the ocean. Now, researchers have produced a series of high-resolution, 3D scans of intestines from nearly three dozen shark species that will advance the understanding of how sharks eat and digest their food.

鈥淚t鈥檚 high time that some modern technology was used to look at these really amazing spiral intestines of sharks,鈥� said lead author , assistant professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. 鈥淲e developed a new method to digitally scan these tissues and now can look at the soft tissues in such great detail without having to slice into them.鈥�

The research team from California State University, Dominguez Hills, the 天美影视传媒 and University of California, Irvine, July 21 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The researchers primarily used a computerized tomography (CT) scanner at the UW鈥檚 Friday Harbor Laboratories to create 3D images of shark intestines, which came from specimens preserved at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. The machine works like a听听used in hospitals: A series of X-ray images is taken from different angles, then combined using computer processing to create three-dimensional images. This allows researchers to see the complexities of a shark intestine without having to dissect or disturb it.

This video shows the soft tissue of a Pacific spiny dogfish spiral intestine, rotated and viewed from different angles.听Samantha Leigh/California State University, Dominguez Hills

鈥淐T scanning is one of the only ways to understand the shape of shark intestines in three dimensions,鈥� said co-author , a professor based at UW Friday Harbor Labs who has led a worldwide effort to scan the skeletons of fishes and other vertebrate animals. 鈥淚ntestines are so complex, with so many overlapping layers, that dissection destroys the context and connectivity of the tissue. It would be like trying to understand what was reported in a newspaper by taking scissors to a rolled-up copy. The story just won鈥檛 hang together.鈥�

From their scans, the researchers discovered several new aspects about how shark intestines function. It appears these spiral-shaped organs slow the movement of food and direct it downward through the gut, relying on gravity in addition to peristalsis, the rhythmic contraction of the gut鈥檚 smooth muscle. Its function resembles the more than a century ago that allows fluid to flow in one direction, without backflow or assistance from any moving parts ( of how the Tesla valve works).

This finding could shed new light on how sharks eat and process their food. Most sharks usually go days or even weeks between eating large meals, so they rely on being able to hold food in their system and absorb as many nutrients as possible, Leigh explained. The slowed movement of food through their gut caused by the spiral intestine probably allows sharks to retain their food longer, and they also use less energy processing that food.

Because sharks are top predators in the ocean and also eat a lot of different things 鈥� invertebrates, fish, mammals and 鈥� they naturally control the biodiversity of many species, the researchers said. Knowing how sharks process what they eat, and how they excrete waste, is important for understanding the larger ecosystem.

鈥淭he vast majority of shark species, and the majority of their physiology, are completely unknown. Every single natural history observation, internal visualization and anatomical investigation shows us things we could not have guessed at,鈥� Summers said. 鈥淲e need to look harder at sharks and, in particular, we need to look harder at parts other than the jaws, and the species that don鈥檛 interact with people.鈥�

The authors plan to use a 3D printer to create models of several different shark intestines to test how materials move through the structures in real time. They also hope to collaborate with engineers to use shark intestines as inspiration for industrial applications such as wastewater treatment or filtering microplastics out of the water column.

Other co-authors on the paper are of University of California, Irvine, and of Applied Biological Services.

This research was funded by Friday Harbor Laboratories, the UC Irvine OCEANS Graduate Research Fellowship, the Newkirk Center Graduate Research Fellowship, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program and UC Irvine.

For more information, contact Leigh at sleigh@csudh.edu and Summers at fishguy@uw.edu.

Just a few days shy of the first day of spring, scientists at Friday Harbor Laboratories on San Juan Island had reason to celebrate.

Dozens of juvenile sea stars, no bigger than a poppy seed, had successfully metamorphosed from floating larvae to mini stars 鈥� the important first step toward becoming adults. Between now and then, these sunflower sea stars, the largest sea star species in the world, will grow up to 24 arms and a colorful body the size of a serving platter.

These young animals represent the first attempt to raise sunflower sea stars in captivity. The species, once abundant from Alaska to Southern California, was nearly destroyed by a mysterious wasting disease that has affected many sea stars in the ocean, but none so catastrophic as the sunflower star. In December, the species was by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, prompting a new focus on recovery efforts 鈥� including captive breeding.

The project, a partnership between the 天美影视传媒 and The Nature Conservancy, aims to learn more about sunflower sea stars and explore eventual reintroduction to the wild, if determined to be advisable. The research team currently is raising sea stars in several phases of development, including newly born larvae, mini juveniles and fully grown adults.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e attempting to do here is to raise a new generation of sea stars in the lab,鈥� said , research scientist at Friday Harbor Labs who is leading the captive rearing efforts for the UW. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that our efforts can help in the process of recovery of the sunflower sea star and, ultimately, recovery of the health of ecosystems like the kelp forests that are under threat right now.鈥�

Left to right: Sunflower sea star larvae, about a month old, seen under a microscope; one-year-old juvenile sea stars; adult sea stars (click on each image to enlarge).听Dennis Wise and Kiyomi Taguchi/天美影视传媒.

Kelp forests are already facing increased pressure from marine heat wave events and, combined with exploding sea urchin populations, these threats contribute to an uncertain future for the kelp forest ecosystems that provide important habitat for thousands of marine animals while supporting coastal economies.

Before the wasting disease took hold in 2013, sunflower sea stars were common from Baja California, Mexico, to Alaska and were important predators, especially for purple sea urchins. Now, with 90% of the sunflower sea star population gone and other factors, sea urchins have multiplied and are feeding on, and decimating, kelp forests.

鈥淭he loss of this important predator has left an explosion of purple urchins unchecked and has contributed to devastated kelp forests along the West Coast, making this ecosystem more vulnerable and less resilient to the stressors it鈥檚 already facing,鈥� said , associate director of The Nature Conservancy鈥檚 California Oceans Program.听Eddy and senior scientist are working with the UW team to advance the sea star captive breeding program.

The UW research team first collected about 30 healthy adult sea stars from among the last-known wild colonies in the Salish Sea. Each adult star has a unique color pattern and was named, affectionately, by researchers based on its physical characteristics. For example, 鈥淐looney鈥� is named for his silver hairlike features, 鈥淔anta鈥� is bright orange, and 鈥淧rince鈥� boasts purple tips on each arm.

Every two days the adult stars devour wild mussels and clams collected near San Juan Island, and the researchers are confident the animals know when feeding time is based on their behavior and activity levels.

About a year ago, Hodin and collaborators successfully bred several adult stars, and they soon discovered the challenge of raising the early juvenile stages 鈥� a feat never previously accomplished for this species, and for very few types of sea stars at all. After a challenging year of trial and error, they saw 14 juveniles cross the one-year mark, proving the likelihood they will make it to adulthood. The stars are expected to be fully grown adults after two or three years, but even that isn鈥檛 certain for a species that has never before been grown in captivity and is hard observe over time in the wild.

鈥淯nless an organism lays down signs of yearly growth, like tree rings, it鈥檚 hard to know how old it is,鈥� Hodin said. 鈥淔or sunflower stars, we鈥檒l only know that through raising them in the lab or going out year after year to a population and trying to measure the same stars.鈥�

This past January, the researchers applied what they had learned from the first round and successfully produced tens of thousands of new larvae. The tiny critters, living in mason jars and seen clearly only under a microscope, are being raised in varying water temperatures, in part to test whether the species can survive warmer ocean temperatures expected under climate change.

The first few larvae to undergo the dramatic metamorphosis process into juvenile form 鈥� essentially the mini version of an adult 鈥� were raised at warmer temperatures, which is a positive sign for the sunflower sea star to recover in the midst of a warming world, Hodin said.

鈥淭hese are not typical ocean temperatures around here, and yet their apparent success indicates that the larvae at least are robust to temperature increases expected with climate change,鈥� Hodin explained.

The first step of this project is to learn as much as possible about the life cycle and biology of the sunflower sea star, which is only a step away from extinction in the wild. There are no specific plans for reintroduction yet, and any future effort would involve more discussion among scientists and permission from wildlife agencies, Hodin said.

鈥淚f we can raise them in the lab, it might be possible to reintroduce them to the wild in areas where they鈥檝e disappeared,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n the meantime, we鈥檙e learning more every day from these first-ever lab-raised sunflower stars.鈥�

This research is funded by The Nature Conservancy.

For more information, contact听Hodin at larvador@uw.edu and Heady at wheady@tnc.org. If you’re interested in supporting the UW’s sunflower sea star captive rearing efforts, visit the “” giving page.