Nearly every morning when she was a doctoral student in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Nicole Nakata, Ph.D. '23 (biology) would cross the street from the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB) in Charleston, Ore., to the high tide line of the Pacific Ocean. Her job was to catch microscopic brittle star plankton larvae from the incoming tidal current and bring them back to OIMB's labs to analyze under a microscope.
Unnoticed by most people, these "babies of the sea" are everywhere in the ocean.
"These larvae are so beautiful and complex, but they are microscopic," Nakata said. "If you spend time in the ocean, it's probable you've swallowed many larvae."
Nakata now works as a faculty member at University of Alaska, Southeast, in Juneau, where she joined as a post-doctoral researcher and instructor in 2024.
After years of working with CAS marine biologist Richard Emlet, previously her doctoral advisor, the two have published research on newly discovered species of brittle star plankton and documented unstudied larval forms. In their studies, they have also found that the Oregon coast ecosystems are connected to the broader West Coast region.
Their discoveries, funded by a National Science Foundation grant and supported by several dozen undergraduate assistants in OIMB's lab facilities, were published in the June 2026 issue of Invertebrate Biology.
Documenting plankton species at OIMB
For years, Emlet and Nakata collaborated on this research, spending hours together at the microscope. For Nakata, it was an opportunity to learn from an expert; for Emlet, Nakata brought fresh momentum to complete a project that was years in the making.
During their research, they discovered three new species of the brittle star plankton off the Oregon coast and published detailed descriptions of about 10 larval species that had never been photographed or described.
"We'd go bananas whenever we found a new species," Emlet said.
Documenting these microscopic organisms deepens the understanding of marine life along the Oregon coast and reveals how connected local brittle star plankton are to distant regions along the West Coast.
"We'd go bananas whenever we'd find a new species."
Richard Emlet
Professor emeritus, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology
One of the many plankton samples the research team studied. This is how the plankton look through a microscope eyepiece. Photo by Nicole Nakata
Because immature larvae often look nothing like their adult forms, the researchers had an extra step as they documented their work. They had to match the genetic signatures of larvae samples with known adults, a step called DNA barcoding. The genetic detective work led to some surprises. They found larval versions of adult brittle stars whose mature populations were only known to live hundreds of miles away in British Columbia and the San Francisco Bay Area.
These findings also contribute to a crucial baseline for the Pacific Ocean's diverse ecosystems. Discovering that these species spawn during the winter months not only informs local conservation efforts but also expands the understanding of regional marine ecosystems. Studying how ocean animals and invertebrates reproduce allows researchers to see how human activity impacts their habitats.
"If we don't know how something makes babies, we can't do anything about it," Nakata said.
Skipping life stages in brittle star plankton
Finding new species and photographing unstudied brittle star larvae broadens the understanding of marine ecosystems. But as the researchers analyzed their samples, they uncovered an even bigger surprise: some larvae appeared to skip developmental stages entirely.
Many life forms typically progress through distinct phases - the classic example being a hungry caterpillar eating constantly before transforming into a butterfly. But what if a caterpillar skipped the feeding stage and transformed into a butterfly right after hatching?
That's what Nakata and Emlet observed in several brittle stars. They found that the mothers produce eggs large enough to nourish the larvae through early development without eating, allowing them to progress straight to the juvenile stage.
"This happens often among marine animals, and we found a goldmine of examples," Emlet said. "We had no idea it was happening here in Oregon."
Meet "Plankton Babies"
The planktonic stages
of Gorgonocephalus eucnemis
The Gorgonocephalus eucnemis belongs to a class of animals called brittle stars, or ophiuroids, that date to 500 million years ago. A basket star consists of a hockey puck-like central disk, or body, with five branched arms lined with tiny hooks and spines extending outward.
Gorgonocephalus early stage
Gorgonocephalus pentagon
Gorgonocephalus pentaroid
Gorgonocephalus early 5 arm
Gorgonocephalus 5 arm and skeleton
How El Niño winters impact plankton
While Nakata now works as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, Emlet continues his work at OIMB. He plans to examine how plankton larvae behave during El Niño winters, which are seasons marked by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.
Emlet wants to explore how patterns of planktonic larvae change during El Niño events, a question that could yield critical insights into how the range of species change and marine responds as climate change warms the oceans. During their long term study, he and Nakata observed some larval species only occurred in samples taken during past El Niño events. With an upcoming El Niño winter expected in North America, he looks forward to seeing if that migration pattern continues.
"We wouldn't have noticed that if we had not been at OIMB on the coast 24/7," Emlet said. "We sampled daily. It would've been impossible without sampling so close to the site."
