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The Mysterious Lives of Larvae

MIT/WHOI Joint Program graduate student Christine Mingione filters plankton samples from Waquoit Bay in search of shellfish larvae, which are no bigger than a fine grain of sand. Back at the lab in the Biology Department, she will count the larvae under a microscope and image them using polarized light.  Mingione is working with WHOI biologist Scott Gallager and Chris Weidman, director of research at the nearby Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, to fill in the blanks between the larval and adult stages of shellfish, such as scallops. Such fundamental missing information is essential for efforts to sustain and restore natural populations. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)