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notes biology microscopy

The first steps of a sea urchin

The winners of this year’s Nikon Small World in Motion are out, and my favorite is the 5th place entry, A newborn sea urchin walking along the seabed by Alvaro Migotto:

It’s adorable to see these newly metamorphosed echinoderms and their long and chubby tube feet learning how to walk.

This scene reminded me of my master’s, when I watched for the first time young sea biscuits take their own first, wobbly steps. And it’s incredible how, in no time, they would be crawling through sand grains like Spider-Man flies through buildings. You can watch them here.

It also reminded me of the video I recorded during my PhD of young ribbon worms learning how to hunt. Also worth watching.

Full disclosure: Alvaro was my supervisor during my master’s degree ;)

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