Marine biologists have discovered new species of brittle star plankton and documented unstudied larval forms along the Oregon coast, connecting local ecosystems to the broader West Coast region.
From the High Tide Line to Laboratory Microscopes
Nearly every morning during her time as a doctoral student in the College of Arts and Sciences, Nicole Nakata crossed the street from the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston, Oregon, to the high tide line of the Pacific Ocean. Her daily work involved catching microscopic brittle star plankton larvae from incoming tidal currents and bringing them back to the Institute’s labs for microscopic analysis.
These microscopic organisms are ubiquitous in marine environments. “These larvae are so beautiful and complex, but they are microscopic,” Nakata stated. “If you spend time in the ocean, it’s probable you’ve swallowed many larvae.”
Publishing Decades of Collaboration
Nakata now serves as a faculty member at the University of Alaska, Southeast in Juneau, having joined the institution as a post-doctoral researcher and instructor in 2024. Following years of collaboration with College of Arts and Sciences marine biologist Richard Emlet, who previously served as her doctoral advisor, the researchers published their findings in the June 2026 issue of Invertebrate Biology.
Their published research identifies newly documented species of brittle star plankton alongside previously unstudied larval forms. The investigations demonstrated that Oregon coastal ecosystems maintain direct ecological connections with the wider West Coast region.
Securing Support for Research Operations
The research received financial backing through a National Science Foundation grant. Laboratory operations at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology also relied on the support of several dozen undergraduate assistants who aided in sample processing and analysis.
