Spanning multiple millimeters in size, these gigantic single-cell organisms host different kinds of symbiotic organisms that allow them to harvest energy from sunlight and chemical reactions.
Authors: Vasyl Vaskivskyi, Maya Street, Kim Ward, Javier Tejeda, Nikki Suzuki, Natkamol Jeamsinkul
Close-up of polyps forming the hard coral Pocillopora verrucosa found off the coast of Okinawa. Most corals are made up of hundreds of thousands of genetically identical polyps.
Author: Courtney Dunphy
Differently colored pigment cells — black, yellow, and orange — in the skin of clownfish juveniles.
Author: Marleen Klann
Unit: Marine Eco-Evo-Devo Unit
The establishment of a new colony is a critical period for ant queens. Queens of the species Pachycondyla crassinoda have to rear their first workers alone and feed them by hunting arthropods. The selection pressures to succeed in this stage are reflected in their skeletomuscular organization.
Author: Arthur Matte
Double antibody staining with Phalloidin (green), that stains muscles, and acetylated a-tubulin (red), which stains nervous fibers. Also shown is a melanophore that is not stained. Clownfish embryo, four-days old, magnification of the trunk region.
Author: Marleen Klann
Unit: Marine Eco-Evo-Devo unit
