Email Print Share
September 14, 2021

Salp releasing chain of sexual form of the species

A solitary (asexual) form of the salp Salpa thompsoni in the process of releasing a chain of the sexual form of the species. Salps have a unique life history in which solitary asexual organisms give birth to long colonies comprised of distinctly different organisms, with the organisms in the chains in turn reproducing sexually and giving birth to the solitary individuals.

[Research supported by U.S. National Science Foundation grants OCE 1756610 and OCE 1756465.]

Learn more in the Florida State University news story FSU researchers uncover new role for strange organisms in ocean food web. (Date image taken: Oct. 29, 2018; date originally posted to NSF Multimedia Gallery: Sept. 14, 2021)

Credit: Courtesy of Michael Stukel


Images and other media in the National Science Foundation Multimedia Gallery are available for use in print and electronic material by NSF employees, members of the media, university staff, teachers and the general public. All media in the gallery are intended for personal, educational and nonprofit/non-commercial use only.

Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.

Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.

Also Available:
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (4.9 MB)

Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.