The Biology and Ecology of Salps

The most recent news article from the online Oceanus, Woods Hole Oceanographic's web site, describes Larry Madin's work with gelatinous zooplankton:
Oceanus Salp News, August 14, 2010

"The research, funded by the National Science Foundation and the WHOI Ocean Life Institute, “does imply that salps are more efficient vacuum cleaners than we thought,” Stocker said. “Their amazing performance relies on a feat of bioengineering—the production of a nanometer-scale mucus net—the biomechanics of which still remain a mystery.” (The net strands are mere nanometers, or billionths of a meter, thick.) The finding is important for a number of reasons. First, it helps explain how salps—which can exist either singly or in “chains” that may contain a hundred or more individuals—can survive in the open ocean, their usual habitat, where the supply of larger food particles is low. “Their ability to filter the smallest particles may allow them to survive where other grazers can't,” Madin said.

Second, and perhaps most significantly, it enhances the importance of the salps’ role in cycling carbon from the atmosphere into the deep ocean. As they eat, they consume a very broad range of carbon-containing particles and efficiently pack the carbon into large, dense fecal pellets that sink rapidly to the ocean depths, Madin said."

Here is the link to NSF article:

NSF Web Site Salps